Hearts & Minds V2
by Bizmarck
Summary: Deep character analysis with a fun and intriguing plot, combat extraordinaire, trippy Evangelion style climax to make you think, and a well rounded 'what happens next'. Sure to please most fans… Enjoy! An epic continuation.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Spring Thaw**

Authors note:

The story begins just after the conclusion of the fight against the 17th Angel Kaworu. This story assumes that Kaworus sacrifice at the end of that battle allowed for the decision regarding Third Impact to be completely decided by Shinji, namely his self-analysis in the 24th and 25th episode of the TV series, which represents his interaction with the processes surrounding third impact. Also during this stage it is assumed that Shinji has some sort of visions of a possible future outcome, namely the Evangelion movies. Naturally his decisions made during this process brought about the halt to Third Impact, and so now we begin.

Don't forget to check out the cover and chapter fan-art at Deviantart under the artist name bizmarck.

**1.1 Good morning**

It all started at the end it seemed. The final battle against Evangelion unit 02 and the confrontation with the 17th Angel 'Kaworu' was clear in his mind, regardless of the massive emotional imbalances of the time.

At the end of that battle however, after the final action of clenching his Evas fist, thus ending Kaworus life, something had snapped in Shinjis mind. Overwhelmed by the continual attack on his emotional self, and the demands this placed on his being, his soul, he had seemingly lost his mind.

He would remembered that "out of body" experience, as he had thought of it at the time, for the rest of his life. Those places. That environment; the environments where he had seemingly been under a guiding influence of an outside consciousness, or beings. A place where, a never-ending cycle of self-analysis and perception was the normal state of being. A place that contained lessons about the contact between different individuals, different souls. An intimidating place, but one he had felt immensely privileged to visit, to experience. And the outcome of this visit, most important of all, his final "self realisation" as a true individual, the power of his self control, his perception, his emotions, his choices……..

And so he chose, a seemingly simple thought, but one whose importance for all mankind would be pivotal. Though he would never fully appreciate it.

Thus he, Shinji Ikari, awoke…

Slowly at first, his eyes growing accustomed to the light. He found himself staring up at a ceiling, a ceiling he had seen numerous times before. He lay there, looking at it, listening to the repetitive droning of the ventilation ducts. After some time his mind finally started to again formulate thought, and his eyes began to recognise the environment, slowly he began to speak.

"I hate thi….." he paused mid sentence, considering the words he had just spoken, his un-focused eyes staring at the familiar hospital ceiling a while longer, the air-conditioning humming.

"I ha……" again he stoped. The air-conditioner droned on as the young boy simply continued to stare at the ceiling. Eyes finally focusing Shinji turned his head slowly to look around the room, slowly, one after the other, he tried to move his limbs, stretching one limb after the other, though not moving from his position. Finally he took in a deep breath, holding it for a second before exhaling.

"Well….." he said finally "Here I am again."

The words were spoken in a quiet voice, and a weak smile crept across his face, a fine start indeed.

The situation he found himself in seemed as strange to him as the recently acquired incite into his own mind. Leaving the hospital bed, Shinji found that NERV was in somewhat a state of disarray. Most people Shinji encountered appeared to be somewhat preoccupied and not their usual professional selves. Misato was thankfully somewhat predictable and swept Shinji into a crushing bear hug upon laying eyes on him, which for once, Shinji did not seem to object to. This mildly surprised Misato, especially considering it was in front of Commander Ikari and Sub Commander Fuyuzuki, and Shinji noted, doctor Ritsuko.

"Its good to see you Misato" Shinji said to his guardian. Looking around he was given a weak smile from Ritsuko and a short nod from Fuyuzuki.

"Its good to see you well Shinji" stated Commander Ikari in his usual monotone voice. The content of the comment momentarily startled Shinji; compassion?

Recovering quickly, Shinji simply said, "Thank you Commander. I am glad to see that everyone is well" he stated calmly and clearly. "I am sure that you would like a debriefing as soon as possible, I am also very eager to find out about the condition of pilots Ayanami and Langley"

His professional tone caused all concerned to give him an intrigued look, even his father raised an eyebrow.

"Naturally, we will convene in my office immediately." said Commander Ikari, turning. All followed him into his office.

The de-brief went relatively quickly, Shinji describing completely his combat with unit 02 and the final confrontation with the 17th Angel Kaworu, including the final request of the Angel to be destroyed by Shinji. He also elaborated about the appearance of Rei towards the end of the combat, indicating that he had experienced strange visions and dreams after his loss of consciousness, but did not allude to the content. Ritsuko interjected to inform Shinji of the loss of communication during the battle but stated nothing ells. After he had finished, it was Shinji's turn to ask questions.

"Where are Rei and Asuka? Are they ok?" he asked.

"Commander Katsuragi will inform you of all that she can" interjected Gendo. "As you may appreciate I must make use of this information immediately."

Shinji noted the second part of his fathers sentence, something hes father would not usually find necessary to add.

"Certainly Commander" said Shinji standing up "Doctor, Commander" he said nodding at the two people flanking the Commander. Gendo watched his son for a second then turned to talk to Fuyuzuki. Misato gave Ritsuko a confused, sympathetic smile and turned to follow Shinji out of the room.

"Sh….Shinji? Are you feeling ok?" asked Misato back in the foyer.

"Yes, why do you ask?" Shinji replied calmly.

"Its just that… I've never seen you so calm around the Commander. You seem… different"

"You do not like how I handled myself?" asked Shinji, face still deadpan.

"No not at all, I think… you just tell me if anything's wrong ok. You gave us, a bit of a scare when you were out this time"

"This time?" asked Shinji with a smile.

"Well as much as you usually do when you're unconscious" she simply replied, smiling back.

Walking for a while they entered the cafeteria. Shinji turned to face Misato "You still haven't told me how Asuka or Rei are doing"

Without answering Misato led him to the food table, they loaded up their trays and headed for the window seat.

Sitting down, Misato explained how Rei had disappeared after the incident and that commander Ikari had found her a few hours later in the lower sections of Terminal Dogma. Shinji asked if she actually believed that. Misato, shocked, asked why, to which Shinji stated that his previous conversations with Kaji had lead him to believe that NERV and his father may not always be as truthful about there actions and motivations. Misato gave a nervous look around at this frank outburst and quietly told Shinji to leave it for now. A little more ill at ease, she continued to say that at about the same time as the combat there had apparently been a mysterious mass blackout amongst a large number of staff at NERVE and even some civilians in Tokyo 3. Many of these people remembered having strange dreams during these blackouts. The few people who had remained conscious had reported seeing what they describe as an energy wave at the start of the black out phase, which seemed to make sense, as all electronic equipment had been disabled during that short time, even the Magi. Noting that Misato had trailed off the subject Shinji asked again about Asuka.

"Oh, I'm afraid there has been no upgrade in her condition Shinji, she's still in the hospital and not responding to any outside stimulus"

Shinji was obviously disappointed though he did not really know why. Noting Misatos concern in his own, now downtrodden expression, Shinji changed the subject for her.

"So what did you dream about Misato?" he asked, slightly more cheerfully.

Misato expression turned serious, she was about to respond when her name could be heard being called over the speaker. Misato cursed under her breath. Stating it was better that they talk later anyway, she made her apologies and began to leave.

"Where is Rei now?" Shinji called after her.

"I don't know, we'll talk tonight!" she called back as she ran out of the room.

After eating a small meal, Shinji began to walk the corridors. Eventually finding himself in the hospital wing, he searched out Asukas room he opened the door. There she was, lying on the only bed in the room. Her vacant eyes staring at the ceiling. He walked over to her, looking down at her blank expression. Observing her; he suddenly remembered a part of the vision, he shook his head in disgust, "could I really have done that?" he asked himself. He looked at his hands, then down at her, remembering the feelings of that vision, tears formed in his eyes.

"I really never did understand you did I."

He gently stroked her cheek and sighed. "I never even understood myself."

He looked down at her sadly.

"Good luck, Asuka" he said finally, and with that he turned to leave. Before he could reach the door however someone opened it from the other side, startling him.

"Rei?"

She, for her part, did not appear startled at all, and was about to speak when Shinji did something rather unexpected, he gave her a hug. Eyes open in mild shock, she reacted stiffly, not moving a muscle her cheeks turning a light shade of red. Letting go and taking a step back Shinji noticing her reaction, he turned slightly red himself, despite his best efforts not to.

"Sorry, I'm just glad to see your ok" he said sheepishly, though maintaining eye contact.

She stared at him blankly, the colour from her cheeks slowly fading, returning her to her usual in-descript expression.

"I have come to check on Pilot Soryu's condition" she said, deadpan, almost as if the past event did not occur.

"That's nice of you" Shinji said with a smile. " I hope you also occasionally checked on my condition" he stated, more to see her reaction then anything.

"I have just come from your room" she said softly, moving past him to go to Asuka. No reaction. oh well, he thought to himself. Shinji went back to Asuka's bed were Rei was standing.

"Do you believe she will be ok?" he asked after a while.

"I am not shore…. She is very troubled" Rei said simply.

They stood there for a while in silence.

"Listen Rei, let's go for a walk through the geo-front" said Shinji suddenly. He froze, not really recognising his own voice. 'Why did I just ask that?' he thought to himself. It then hit him, he hadn't considered himself in that statement, or not really. Since he had woken up, even after his interaction with his father, even after the sadness he had felt for Asuka, he had felt no self-pity. Granted he had felt emotions but they did not bring with them the other memories of sadness 'for himself'. He did not let them, the new realisation that this self-sadness did not help him, or anyone else, was enough to keep these thoughts away, allowing him to focus more on the people around him, on their feelings and desires. So he stood, still looking at Rei, who had turned to face him.

"We can talk here" she said.

Grabbing hold of his thoughts he searched his emotions, refusing any negative memories to surface in his mind he was simply left with a feeling, and what he was doing, felt right.

"Will you go if I ask you to?" he asked carefully.

To which she simply replied "Yes."

As always within the geo-front, it was a lovely _day_. Shinji saw that the hole left in the Main NERV building by the battle against the 14th angel had almost been repaired.

Talking to Rei, Shinji was able to find out, despite Reis notoriously short answers, that Toji had been moved to a hospital in Tokyo 3 so as to be closer to his family. Toji was recovering well, apparently reinvigorated by the upturn in his sisters condition and her return home, both pieces of news putting Shinji in an excellent mood. He also managed to find out about Hikari and Kensuke, both had tried to visit Shinji and Asuka but were unable to.

They continued through the woods, again in silence, though for once Shinji did not mind, he smiled as they walked. They finally arrived at their destination, a melon patch in a little clearing. The garden had grown a little wild since Shinji had last seen it, and the melons were looking a little wilted without constant watering, but they appeared salvageable.

"What is this place?" asked Rei.

"This used to be Kaji's" answered Shinji. "He asked me to look after it for him just before he disappeared" he said in a slightly downtrodden voice. Again the negative thoughts began to creep into his mind, but they were quickly dispelled, it seemed to be easier to disband them each time he did it. His mood quickly improving, he walked over to collect the watering can.

"Why would Mr Kaji have such a garden, we are provided with enough food?" asked Rei, watching Shinji.

"It gave him a place to think I believe, whatever the reason he really did enjoy it here" Shinji said, beginning to fill the can from a tap nearby. "And I will try my best to look after it because, well he was a friend, some-one I cared for". Shinji said while walking back from the tap. He stopped, that didn't sound like him, being so honest about his feelings? Why was he saying these things? Was this really him? He searched his mind, he had always cared for others and wanted to help, though why hadn't he. He analysed his memory, the fear/uncertainty he used to feel the preoccupation with his own problems, a sense of helplessness. 'Hmph', he thought to himself, so this was him, the real him, just without the baggage.

A new determined expression formed on his face and he began to water some of the more wilted melons. Stopping he turned to find Rei standing there, hands together, looking at him.

"Things that are important to you, or others, don't always make sense, they don't have to" he said, starting to water some more melons.

"Like you visiting me or Asuka in the hospital" he continued, letting the words sit.

After a short while Rei answered; "You are my fellow pilots, your condition is important for everyone"

Shinji stoped watering "Our condition could have easily been found out from the base computers, it did not require you to visit."

Again a pause, sensing no reply he turned to face her again.

"Would you like to help me look after Kajis garden Rei?" he asked moving towards her. Sensing doubt (impressive considering her always blank expression) he touched her hands with his free one. "I would like that"

Her eyes widened slightly and her mouth opened a little. She stared at him for a few seconds, to which he did not flinch at all, nor turn red, a proud moment.

"If you wish" she said finally, not exactly the reaction Shinji was hoping for, but it was a start. He turned to start watering again.

"I do not know how to look after a garden." she said, looking around.

"Good, that makes two of us." said Shinji smiling "we will learn together."

With that he handed her the watering can.

They continued to water the garden and remove some of the larger weeds that had grown there, eventually forming a small neat pile of them to one side. The _sun_ was setting and they left the garden for the night, walking back to NERV HQ. They took the train to the surface together, discussing briefly the current training and testing program that Misato and Ritsuko had prepared for them, and to Shinji's delight gardening as well. Rei stated that she would find a book on the matter at school tomorrow.

They parted at the train station, as Shinji wanted to get back to Misato. Shinji told Rei that he had enjoyed the day with her and wished her a good night, to which she simply replied.

"Good night Ikari-san" and walked off.

Shinji walked back home smiling, though thinking about his upcoming conversation with Misato brought him back into a serious mood. It struck him that he had not asked Rei about her presence at the combat at all, or indeed about her disappearance afterwards, but then again considering how well the day went he thought perhaps it was better he had not… maybe later.

Entering Misatos apartment Shinji found that going through the door felt somewhat ominous, PenPen was not there, and the place was very still. In-fact all of Tokyo 3 was still very empty after the last battle, it had remained strangely silent. Shinji walked to his room and looked inside, still the same old room, little to no decorations, simple furniture, neat, home. He walked over to Asuka's room, now that she was not there, there was no harm in a little peak. He glanced inside, noticing mostly an ungodly mess. He considered going inside but thought better of it, returning to the kitchen instead. After cleaning a little he glanced into the fridge, Misato usual fair adorned the shelves, beer and instant Ramen. Opening his wallet he found his NERV cash card, making a decision he left a note on the table and left.

Returning an hour later he found that Misato was still not home. In silence he prepared dinner and cleaned up the living area as best he could, when not attending to the food. After placing the food on simmer he went to his room to change into shorts and a T-shirt. The continual silence was starting to annoy him, and his eyes drifted down to his Walkman lying on his bed.

It was funny that the music he enjoyed so much was tied to so many unhappy memories, he thought 'maybe the silence wasn't so bad…?'

He started to walk back towards the door and stoped. Why should the past have control of the things he enjoyed? He turned and stared at the STAD player, silence returned, silence, he was alone; 'Well then' Shinji thought to himself.

Misatos car screeched to a halt in her spot outside the apartment complex. She sat there for a while, once more she was rather worried about talking to Shinji, more so then even Gendo, it was not a good feeling. She turned the car off and got out, immediately hearing muffled, but loud, jazz music coming from her apartment building.

"Now who was that?" Misato said to herself. She thought she was the last, poor Shinji having to come home to that! She was going to tell whoever it was off for this. With a scowl on her face she headed for the elevator. The scowl quickly left her however, and was replaced by a blank look as she neared the source of the music, her own apartment? Slightly bemused she opened the door. Her mouth dropped at the sight that befell her, there was Shinji, dancing around the room, a broom in hand, he was very animatedly sweeping the floor. She stood there for a while watching him, the current song finally came to an end and Shinji finished up with a twirl and a bow. Finished, he raised his head to see Misato. Shocked, Shinji instantly turned an amazingly deep shade of red and stumbled backwards, promptly falling over a chair.

'Well at least there's still a little bit of the old Shinji in him' thought Misato, recovering a little. Shinji, rubbing his head, getting up, a giant sweat drop having formed.

"He he" he said. Shinji stumbled over to the stereo to turn down the music.

"…. ah hey Misato I was just cleaning up a bit, I didn't hear you come in" he said, the red was starting to leave his face, being replaced by a shy smile. Looking around she noticed how clean the apartment was.

"Oh thank you Shinji" she said suddenly smiling. Shinji, glad for the change in topic, recovered from his embarrassment, placing the broom against the wall he said.

"Come on through, I kept dinner warm for you, but its been sitting awhile"

He moved into the kitchen

"Ok" said Misato following, if a little cautiously.

"Shinji started to serve the food while Misato took a seat, looking down she noticed a bear next to her plate.

"Go ahead." said Shinji noticing her look " I'm sure you've had a difficult day. But can you keep it down to three or four?" he said with a smile.

Shinji served the food, after a while he sat down. Picking up his chopsticks he noticed Misatos inactivity. He turned to look up at her.

"Are… are you O.K Shinji?" asked Misato finally.

" Um… yes why do you ask?"

"Its just that… well I'm always worried after you fight an Angels and become….. well unconscious, but this time … I mean … well" she shifted uncomfortably in her chair " Well you were so down before the last Angel and then.. well you met Kaworu" she waited for a reaction from Shinji, non forthcoming she continued "and it seemed that you picked up a bit, and then well… having to kill him" she stopped again, watching him "And then when you finally did wake up your were so calm, almost happy, well not that I mind… but it has come as quite a shock, not only for me but for all… Its just that with such a massive change… well I'm just a little worried"

She looked at him thoughtfully.

"You said earlier that there was a massive blackouts amongst NERVE personnel at the same-time that I was in combat." Shinji said pleasantly. "And that these people had dreams"

"Yes, we think so, but we could not see you for a long time" said Misato.

"Where you out as well?"

"Yes, for a while I'm told"

"What did you see?" asked Shinji. Misato hesitated for a second, breaking eye contact, she took a bite to eat before answering.

"Well, like many other people reported, my dream wasn't really clear." she said after a while "But it was like I was awake, there were a lot of people in it, including you." she looked at him, a little bit of tension in her expression. "I can't remember that much but it was an interesting experience in many ways, I can't really explain it" she finished.

"Well mine was the same." replied Shinji. "Except I can remember most of mine" he looked at his food "it was very… personal" he looked up just in time to see the edge of her mouth twitch, continuing he said. " But what happened to me was that I had to make a choice, but before I could choose I had to understand my choices…"

Interested Misato interrupted "In what way?"

"Well" he continued "As you have probably noticed, mentally I've been in a 'bad place' for a while now… angry, confused and alone" his voice trailed off a little and Misato moved forward to place her hand over his, a sad expression forming on her face.

"It was not your fault, it was mine" said Shinji, reassuringly. "But until the _dream_, I could not see that, and once I did, I made a choice…… I chose to comeback."

He looked back at her.

"So.. You see its still me….." continued Shinji. "Just a me that can see a little more clearly……"

He gave her a weak smile. She looked at him for a second, considering his words, then moving so quickly that her stool cluttered to the floor, she grabbed the sitting boy, enveloping him into another bear-hug. He struggled slightly to stop from suffocating in her bosom. Releasing him she looked down into Shinjis obviously blushing face. Raising her finger and bending over in that shamelessly Misato pose she said cheerfully

"Well at least now I know its you!"

Sitting back down she giving him a wink.

"And I can get back to some serious unwinding!" she said, cracking open the beer-can and downing a huge swig. "OOOOWWIEEE! AHHH! That's better!" she said slamming it down.

Shinji just looked at her and laughed. 'So much for a serious discussion.'

The rest of the dinner went smoothly, Shinji found out a little more about Tojis condition and Misato informed Shinji that Ritsuko had _returned_ and had speculated that the energy source, which had caused the momentary blackout, had been caused by the battle. She didn't give any further information about were Ritsuko had been. They both continued the up-beat mood through dinner, afterwards both cleaning up, eventually they ended up out on the veranda enjoying the warm evening. At which point Shinji's mood suddenly turned more serious.

"Are you aware that Rei is at least part Angel?" asked Shinji suddenly, looking out at the city.

Misato did not move, but her expression hardened, eventually she said.

"I suspected as much, when I was told about the appearance of the 3rd AT field during your battle……. but no, I was not told"

"It makes you wonder about a lot of things we may not have been told" said Shinji.

"It's not good to think like that Shinji, I can't even talk to Ritsuko any more, she is always with someone….. And that kind of thinking has cost Kaji……….. his life" she completed quietly. Shinji gave her a heartfelt look, then returned his gaze to the city.

"There is something, I didn't tell you about my dreams………… there were visions as well, this is not over….. NERV will be attacked, and if we do nothing, we are all going to die"

She looked across at him, but his expression, nor his position, had changed.

"With all the things that have been happening lately that actually doesn't sound crazy…….." she said after a while, her tone soft and thoughtful. "But in the end there is nothing we can do, there is simply two much we do not know, the lies are too twisted into themselves, I don't think I could recognise the truth even if I saw it." she said helplessly.

"I know…. That's the problem" replied Shinji.

"We can not influence the outcome any more, at least not in a way we could except" he added remembering some of his vision, shuddering. Misato watched him.

"There is only one person who can at this point" he continued, turning to face her "My father…" he said.

Her expression hardened but her eyes remained soft.

"He can not be approach, you know that better then most." she said in an even tone.

Shinjis eyes dropped as some of the painful memories returned despite his best efforts. Misato continued "There was a time just after the battle however, when he seemed different, disorientated, unsure, it was the first time that I have ever seen him like that, though soon his old steely self returned."

Shinji recovered his thoughts "I suspected that may have been the case, and that's why I think we can do something" he said, a new determined expression forming on his face. Misato noted that it reminded her somewhat of Gendo, not a particular pleasant thought.

"What did you have in mind?" she asked, a little unsure.

"It's only an idea at the moment, though when the time comes I am probably going to need your help."

He searched her expression, waiting for a reaction.

"I have little to believe in any more……." she said, her expression downcast "At times like these all you have are the people you care for" she looked at him "Yes Shinji I will help, whatever you think you need."

She smiled. Shinji was a little surprised at Misato statement, offering help even before he explained his plan. 'She'll probably change her mind once she hears it' he thought to himself.

"It does not bother you that Rei is part Angel?" asked Misato, returning her gaze to the city. Shinji, his mind back in the present, looked back out onto the city.

"Well, back when I did not know for sure what she was it used to bother me… a lot. Now that I'm even less sure, it doesn't bother me at all" he said. Misato gave Shinji a confused look.

"Well whatever used to scare me about her before, well……… was put on hold, as I wasn't sure if that's what she was any more, or at lest what I thought she was"

Shinji shook his head, as if to get rid of a headache "It all became to confusing, nothing made sense, even the old way I used to looked at her, so I gave up…………. Now I just think of her from the things I have seen, regardless of what she is" Shinji said looking back up. "And you know, that's not scary at all" he said.

Misato gave Shinji a thoughtful look.

There was a pause and Misato stretched animatedly. "Well I'm glad, but this is all just a little toooo serious…" she said in a more animated voice "I'm off to have a soothing bath"

Though she was not quite as happy go lucky as Shinji knew she could be. She gave Shinji a wink and walked back inside.

"Goodnight Misato" said Shinji as he returned to look at the city skyline.

Shinji did not dream that night but slept quietly in his bed.

The next morning was a return to normal for both of them, with the usual breakfast routine taking place, both cheerfully enjoying it. Misato talked about how she was considering bringing PenPen back, which Shinji agreed, would be a great idea. Shinji indicated that he was going to go back to school today, which only mildly surprised Misato, she offered him a lift but he said he would rather walk and enjoy the warm weather. After breakfast she quickly reminded him of the tests Ritsuko had organised for him that evening and left with a cheerful goodbye.

Shinji was a little apprehensive about school, a little unsure of what to expect. He still had not talked to Toji since the incident. His fears were unfounded however as he got a rousing reception from Kensuka. Happy to see him Kensuka bombarded him with questions as usual, though Shinji was able to get in a few of his own and found out that Toji was recovering well. Kensuka said that he should come to visit tonight, but Shinji said he was unable too, perhaps tomorrow. Shinji asked if Toji was angry with him, to which Kensuka replied that Toji was told that it was the dummy system that had taken him out, and so he had no grudge against Shinji.

"Of corse not stupid, it wasn't your fault!" said Kensuka, dismissing the idea "Wow Toji inside the 13th angel… who would have thought it!" he said excitedly. This dispelled most of Shinjis fears regarding Toji. It was good to get back to the old pace, though after a while Shinji noticed that Hikari had not come to greet him. Finally able to excuse himself from Kensuka, Shinji made his way over to Hikari. She appeared a little uncertain towards him in a shy, worried way. But Shinji tried his best to be up beat, giving her a broad smile.

"Hello Hikari, nice to see you again" said Shinji.

"Oh. Hello Shinji, its good to see you well" Hikari replied smiling weakly.

"I'm surprised you didn't come over" Shinji said a little uncertainly.

"Well its just…………. it IS good to see you!" she said again reassuringly, though almost immediately she returned to her worried expression. "Its just I'm still worried about Asuka……. I haven't been able to find anything out for so long….. I just didn't want to darken the mood so quickly" she looked down. "I mean so many bad things have happened."

"Its O.K" said Shinji sitting down next to her. "I'm afraid that Asuka is still in a coma of some kind" Her frown deepened upon hearing this.

"Though they think she has a good chance of coming out of it." he added. She lifted her head to look at him.

"She is a fighter after all." he said smiling. She gave him a weak smile. Just then Rei entered the room, immediately followed by the teacher. Duty taking over, the class rep made her usual announcement (for the benefit of the, still, few students), Shinji returned to his desk.

The rest of the school day past quickly, with Rei being her usual vacant self and the teacher giving his usual speech on second impact.

After saying goodbye to Kensuka and Hikari, who were off to see Toji, Shinji headed off to NERVE. Making his way out of the main school gate he was a little surprised to find Rei, waiting for him. After greeting each other the two walked together. Walking in silence Shinji was given an even bigger surprise, a conversation actually started by Rei! She had been to the library to find a book on gardening, and had borrowed three. Their conversation actually lasted until the got to NERVE were they briefly broke up to change into there plug suits. The tests were performed quickly, with Shinji easily surpassing his best synch ratios, Rei naturally held on to her steady values. There was minimal interaction between the pilots and anyone else. Though Shinji noticed that Dr Ritsuko appeared to be constantly on edge. They finished up and Shinji and Rei left to tend to Kajis garden, spending an hour weeding and watering. The time went quickly, as there was still some work to do on the garden, and before Shinji new it was time to go home. Saying goodbye to Rei Shinji left for home. The day ended calmly with Shinji and Misato sharing a nice meal, both not wishing to start any deep conversations, the mood was light and relaxed.

The next day there were no requirements to go to NERVE. So Shinji was able to visit Toji after School, still very nervous about seeing Toji again, he required a friendly prod from Hikari to first enter the room. Nervously he laid eyes on Toji, who was sitting on his bed reading a book, Shinjis eyes moved from Tojis face to where his left leg used to be, and still was? Or at least something that resembled his leg. He looked back up at Tojis face, which had now changed into a deep scold. Toji crossed his arms, and in a hostile voice he barked;

"So here is the person who calls himself my friend!"

Shinji, his worst fears realised, looked decidedly uncomfortable and started to back away when he heard someone sniggering. Turning, Shinji could see Kensuka suppressing a laugh at the door. Turning further to Hikari Shinji found her with arms crossed and an unimpressed expression on her face.

"Sorry Shinji" Hikari said. "But I couldn't convince these two not to do it, and they made me promise to play along" she said apologetically. Shinji, confused, returned his gaze to Toji, who was now wearing a broad smiling, and also standing?

"Toji!" said Shinji shocked.

"Just kidding, it's good to see your O.K." said Toji cheerfully. And before he could react Shinji was in a head lock, receiving a knuckle rub on his head from Toji. Finally breaking the grip, Shinji rubbed his sore head, smiling.

"I'm sorry for what happened to you Toji, I still haven't said that" said Shinji apologetically.

"Its O.K" replied Toji. "It wasn't your fault, Katsuragi told me that you didn't put up a fight, you were willing to die instead of attack the angel" Toji smiled at him. "That meant a lot, man."

"Ya well… maybe if I'd remained in control….. and attacked" said Shinji lowering his eyes "I would have been able to get you out better then that damn dummy plug system did" he finished, a little subdued.

"Well we can't change the past…" reflected Toji in a determined voice, though trailing off a bit.   
"And hey, I'm alive!" he said cheering up. "And my sisters now visits me in hospital!" he said laughing.

Relieved at his friend's positive outlook Shinji finally relaxed. They continued catching up, with Toji talking about his recovery program.

In the middle of Tojis explanation Kensuka interrupting to say how cool his artificial limbs were.

"Ya who would have guessed that NERV actually came through for me" Toji stated, a little quieter then the rest of the conversation.

Shinji noted that Toji glanced over at Hikari at the end of that sentence.

They continued to catch up, Hikari remained mostly quiet throughout the visit, but joined in occasionally. A considerable time later Shinji and Kensuka got ready to leave, as it was approaching dinnertime. Hikari made an excuse to stay behind, so the two boys left on their own. Slightly startled at Hikari remaining behind, Shinji asked Kensuka about it. Kensuka told him that she had visited Toji more than he had, and that there was something definitely going on between the two, but left it at that, Kensuka even restraining himself from any sly comments about the two lovebirds. Maybe Shinji wasn't the only one that had changed, he thought to himself.

When he finally left Kensuka with a short goodbye Shinji noticed the time. It was too late to go to the garden, and he felt bad for having not met up with Rei today, he should go and see how she was. Shinji still felt a little uneasy about going to Reis place, but he pushed it into the back of his mind.

"Oh come on." He said to himself, it was on his way home after all.

He arrived at her door. Pausing before he knocked, he noting the construction noises still in the background 'would they ever be finished with that?'

Focusing back on the door, he knocked loudly. After a short while Rei answered the door, as always, in her school uniform.

"Ikari?" she said

"Hey Rei…. um, I'm sorry I was not at the garden today, but my visit to Toji took much longer then I thought." he said.

"How is the 4th pilot" Rei asked blankly. Shinji, not prepared for the question, had to think about the response.

"He's going very well, he's moving around no problem now". he said still standing there. There was a slight pause.

"There is no school tomorrow, should we meet at the garden earlier?" asked Rei.

"Sure" he said smiling at the sudden enthusiasm (for Rei anyway). "Perhaps we can meet at eleven O'clock, we don't have to be at NERV HQ till five pm."

To this Rei simply nodded, and continued to look at Shinji.

"Well ok then" stated Shinji as he started to move away "I'll see you later."

About to turn around he stopped. Turning back Shinji added. "Listen Rei, would you like to join Misato and me for dinner tonight?"

Reis blank expression did not change, but Shinji looked for a reaction to his question.

"It is not necessary" she said simply.

"I know." he said, expecting the response "But you know it might be… nice…… come on" he said encouragingly. She looked blankly at him for a second then disappeared from the door. Shinji was a little worried that this represented a non favourable response, but she returned moments later, closing the door behind her. Walking up beside him she said "If you wish."

That line was starting to annoy him a bit, though she was coming, so he let it slide, together the two left for Misatos.

The evening was a subtle affair, Misato was a little surprised to see Rei but warmed to the idea quickly.

"The more the merrier" she had said simply. And there was even a forth for dinner. PenPen was back! Totally overjoyed at being back, PenPen gave Shinji and Rei an excited hug. Rei looked down in surprise but gave PenPen a pat at Misatos prompting. Misato started chatting to Rei, who just sat and listened tentatively, or gave one-word answers. Shinji brought an end to the one sided dialog, asking her to come and help in the kitchen.

Completely unsure of what to do to help, Shinji had to give her instructions, which Rei followed diligently. The cooking went quickly, and soon they were all sitting in front of a table loaded with food. During dinner Misato asked Rei what she usually ate at home, to which she replied instant noodles. Misato stated with authority that that wasn't enough for a growing girl, to which Rei replied that it was adequate, predicably. Shinji suddenly started laughing and both girls turned to look at him, looking at Misato he said that it was hypocritical of her to pick on Reis eating, as that was all she ate when Shinji did not cook. Misato gave Shinji a death glare and he quickly calmed down, looking down at his food with a sweat drop forming. Luckily PenPen distracted her by dancing around the end of the table begging for food. Without thinking about it, Rei took some food from her plate and gave it to PenPen, who promptly gobbled it up. Shinji and Misato exchanged dumbfounded looks, and then a sly grin crept across Misatos face.

"You've done it now Rei" she said "He won't leave you alone for the rest of the night now"

Rei looked at her blankly. It was true, for the rest of the night PenPen came up to Rei, who, unsure how to react, simply gave him a pat. Rei helped clean up, but soon after finishing she simply said.

"I think I should be going home now"

Misato, reacting quickly, stated she would drive her home, and insisted on it before Rei could give her standard response. Misato got up. Moving to the door Rei turned to face Shinji

"Thank you for inviting me Shinji… it was … nice"

Beaming Shinji replied "Any time Rei, I'll see you tomorrow."

Before leaving however Rei was given one last hug by PenPen, she knelt down and stroked his head a little "Goodnight PenPen" and with that she got up and left.

On the drive to Reis apartment neither Misato nor Rei spoke, though as they pulled up to Rei's apartment Misato finally said.

" I hope you know your welcome anytime Rei"

The car came to a stop.

"Thank you for the dinner, and for driving me home" said Rei opening the door. Misato leaned across to speak to the exiting Rei.

"Rei" she said. Rei stopped.

"These are difficult times, and I just want you to know that if you need anything… or someone to talk to………. I am also there for you too" Misato finished. Rei paused for a second, then said

"Thank you Commander Katsuragi" and left. Misato watched her go.

The next day found Shinji preparing some lunch for himself and Rei. This activity prompted some teasing from Misato, though after a while she disappeared, returning with a basket and blanket. She stated that if he was going to woe a girl he should do it properly, this in turn prompted a very dark look from Shinji.

He arrived at Kajis garden to find Rei working, she had done a great deal the previous day and the garden looked neat and tidy. After they did some more overturning and pruning, as recommended by one of Reis books, it was barely twelve thirty, and they were finished already. Shinji suggested a walk along the lake in the geo-front, to work up an appetite for the lunch he had brought along, as he had never been to the far side of the lake. They arrived at the edge of the lake and could see a clearing someway along the shore. Deciding to have their lunch there they made their way along the bank. The going was tougher then expected, with the terrain-becoming wild and rocky. The day had gotten very warm (the geo-front weather closely mimicking the outside conditions) and by the time they got there both were panting and sweating. Placing the basket under a lone, large oak Shinji sat down on the grass and looked at the lake longingly.

"If only we brought our bathers" he said absent mindedly.

"I do not see that as a problem" Rei said beside him, also looking at the lake. With that, she suddenly raised and started to remove her clothing. Shinji froze, suddenly remembering that day at her apartment, images danced across his mind.

"Um…." said Shinji, not knowing what to say, and running out of time, he quickly said. "Your right Rei! ….. Ah, we can swim in our undergarments! The sun will dry them out soon enough."

She was about to unfasten her bra and stoped, looking down at the cringing form of Shinji. She folded her clothes and calmly walked into the water. Relieved at having avoided a probable terminal nosebleed Shinji remembered how warm he was and promptly removed most of his clothing, slipping into the water as quickly as he could. Rei was in about waist deep and was washing herself calmly. Shinji tried to ignore his own mind and dived under the water, coming up refreshed. Rei finished by dipping under and swam over to a large log, half submerged in the water next to the shore. Reaching it she leaned on it lazily, the log being in the shade of an overhanging tree. Shinji circled for a while, clearing his thoughts. Coming to a decision he made his way over and leaned on the log next to Rei, staring out across the lake at NERV HQ with her.

They rested there for a while, as birds chirped overhead.

"You know what happened to me after the battle with Kaworu don't you" said Shinji, breaking the pleasant silence.

"No." she replied. Shinji wrinkled his brow, genuinely surprised. Thinking, he reconsidered his question.

"You know about my dreams and visions afterwards though"

"Yes" she replied. Shinji paused, contemplating the next round of questioning.

"Do You……. have any idea what my father has planed for you…. or NERV?"

"No, I do not" she said. Shinji thought that for once there appeared to be a little edge to her voice, though in which emotional direction, he was unsure.

"Rei" said Shinji, turning to face her. She was looking at him, her face was still without emotion though her eyes hinted at something, giving her a more human quality. Deciding that he had no choice but to go through with the question Shinji took a deep breath and continued.

"Are you an Angel Rei?" he finally asked, he was trying to remain steady, though his uncomfortableness was showing through, and Reis piercing stare was not helping at all! She continued to hold the stare for a short while, then her eyes wavered and she lowered her gaze.

"I……. I'm not sure, I don't think so" she said, stammering a little. Shinji, taking in these new signs of emotion as well as her lack of conviction in her thoughts, did not move. His mind raced as he thought of what to say next, he could not decide, and so he said nothing. They sat there for a while and before long Shinji saw Reis expression harden back to its old self. She suddenly pushed herself off the log and made her way to the shore. Shinji didn't knowing what to do, he stalled for a second then quickly made his way after her, catching her halfway up too their clothes. Reaching her, but still unsure how to react, he simply grabbed her arm.

"Rei……" said Shinji, she stopped. Turning she looked down at where his hand grabbed her arm, then up into his face. His expression was worried but kind.

"Are you not afraid of me?" she asked with a cold edge to her voice. Shinji quickly remembered back to how he had sometimes reacted around her, suddenly feeling ashamed. He's expression turned serious and he looked her square in the eye.

"No Rei I am not"

He released her arm to take hold of her hand, squaring up to her.

"I'm sorry for how I sometimes reacted to you before, I was just confused and not thinking clearly."

He paused for a second framing his words. "I am still not sure what the truth is, so all I can believe is what I see….. And what I see is someone I like" he stammered and blushed a little despite himself. "Someone I care for" he continued, recovering slightly "You're a good person Rei that's enough for me" he said, finishing with a weak smile. Rei looked at him blankly, her eyes softening a bit and a very small smile (For Rei a massive feat!) appeared on her face.

Shinji, suddenly noticing his close proximity to Rei as well as the fact his hands were still warped around hers, blushed. He released his grip while taking a step back.

" Ahhh.. well" he said, fidgeting a bit while looking around "We should lie down to dry off a bit before we eat…….. We shouldn't get the blanket wet." he said a little hurriedly, not looking at her again. Spotting a nice piece of soft grass nearby he quickly layed down on his back, placing his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, hard. After the seriousness of the conversation his mind had had time to notice that there was a very attractive wet young lady standing right next to of him, wearing nothing but white under-ware! His brow wrinkled in the mental effort to derail the sudden train of thought.

He heard her lying down beside him and let out a long breath, it had gone better then he thought. She had actually smiled! Something he had never expected. Then he froze, something-wet came to rest on his shoulder. Opening his eye's he looked down to see a mass of blue wet hair. Rei was lying 45 degrees to him on her side with her head resting on his shoulder and her hand resting up against his stomach. His mind went completely blank and he stopped breathing, left with nothing ells, he listened to the birds overhead and felt the rhythm of Reis soft breathing, a decidedly lovely experience.

He left it at that. Maintaining his empty mind he began breathing again calmly, enjoying the experience. Finding himself entirely too relaxed after a little time, he dozed off.

He awoke a short time later to find himself dry and alone. Looking up he saw Rei, now fully clothed, setting up the lunch he had prepared. Quickly dressing himself he joined her under the tree. They began to eat and after a short while Shinji started to tentatively ask Rei about her past, and what she new about NERV. She appeared to be enthusiastic (as much as giving more then her usual one word answers was), telling Shinji as much as she could. He was surprised at how little she actually knew about NERV, seemingly filling her-in on many details. To his surprise she started to ask questions herself, and together they formulated a slightly clearer picture of the situation. Though granted, still only as clear as mud.

She apparently had not seen most of the vision that Shinji had experienced after his fight with Kaworu. This annoyed Shinji a little, as he was still in slight doubt about what it was he himself had seen. As for her relationship with his father it was much more mechanical then he had thought, with only minimal parental sentiments being shown. 'Big surprise' thought Shinji.

He continued by saying that he believed that NERV and his father were plotting something big, something _different_, but something with the same outcome. Shinji honestly believed both organisations did not fully understand, so did not know, the consequences of their future actions. He also believed that there was only one way to avoid this undesirable outcome, and this meant action against his father. Shinji observed Rei closely after this revelation, knowing her previous allegiances to Gendo. Rei asked what kind of action was necessary, upon which Shinji asked what she had done during his fight with Kaworu, and why? She said she had apparently extended her AT Field in an attempt to protect Shinji and remembered little else. Shinji smiled at that. Continuing he said that he suspected that her AT field coupled with his location within the Eva and the distortion of Kaworus AT field had allowed him, contact, of some kind.

"Contact with who?" she asked.

"I'm not sure, with everyone I think, with myself.." he said a little unsure. Shinji continued to explain how Kaworu had referred to the AT fields as barriers to the soul, the envelopment and distortion of the 3 AT fields in close proximity had allowed for some kind of window for himself. A window out, and in a way a window into, his own soul.

Whatever the reason he believed that this same type of 'experience' would alter his fathers course from the visions Shinji had seen. A change from which, Shinji thought, any alternative was more pleasant.

"I think it's the only chance we have"

He looked at her, awaiting a response. Responding only a short while later Rei said; "If you think that is what we must do"

Shinji thought about Reis answer, no wonder she simply went along with what his father said, she was kept so much in the dark that she did not know any better. Though from the little he had seen she was quite able to make up her own mind up on issues she had some scrap of information about.

"Do you want to stop these events from happening?" he asked, looking at her. She thought for a second or so.

"I don't think that the outcome that will occur without our immediate action is desirable." she said simply, and that was enough for Shinji.

Time had flown by and the (sun) was setting. Shinji invited Rei around for dinner again, to which she agreed and they headed off home.

Misato was still not back, so the two started dinner. Misato arrived just as they were setting the table. She appeared glad to see Rei again and they all sat down to eat. Soon the mood turned serious as Shinji informed Misato of his earlier discussion with Rei, including what Rei had told him about her actions during the combat with Kaworu. And finally about Shinjis desire to act against his father. Misato was surprised to say the least, moving her shocked gaze from Shinji to Rei.

"You know what you are suggesting aren't you?" asked Misato, her serious expression taking over.

"You know what will happen to us afterwards?" she continued.

"Compared to the alternative, I see little choice" said Shinji, remembering his vision of Misatos body, shuddering slightly at the memory.

"But you're not sure… of your visions, or if your plan will work." Misato stated, a sense of helplessness in her voice.

Rei suddenly spoke, for the first time since Shinji started his long explanation.

"I am not sure for what purpose I have been created"

Both Shinji and Misato turned to look at her. "But given all that I have seen I am sure that it is for something very important, and I believe now, undesirable." she said, the disappointment evident in her voice. They both stared at her for a while, while she simply continued eating. Chewing slowly she stopped for a second and without looking up added. "From what information I know, I believe Shinjis plan will work. In that it will afford Gendo the same experience as Shinji had." Rei looked up from her food, focusing on Misato. "The full experience of what you yourself thought you dreamt."

Misato expression turned serious, she contemplated the situation at NERV at the moment, why was it still going? The 17th angel was dead, shouldn't it be over? She thought about Ritsuko and then back to Kaji.

"What a shit situation" she said out aloud. Still running blind, with no idea of what was going on or for what she was working for. She thought hard.

What could she do, surely this plan was too crazy, she would be arrested for sure, or maybe worse. Could she just leave? She was young, she could go away, start all over….. Or could she. 'Look at Ritsuko' thought Misato, causing a frown at the thought of her friends situation. Joining NERV was a life long commitment, literally.

"Ha" she mumbled under her breath.

Her mind turned to Gendo, 'Bastard!' she thought to herself. The more she thought of him the more she wanted to hit him in the face. These lies, so so sick of all the lies! She had continued working for NERV, but why? To kill Angels? Well they were all dead, except for Rei.

Misato looked over that the young girl, still eating.

'God, was there nothing to believe in any more!' she thought. Misato couldn't ignore the situation any more, this had been the first time she had really thought about it. In her heart she knew there was no way out, that's why she had simply continued working, simply ignoring the grievances she felt about her situation. But she had continued Kajis work! Seeking the truth amongst the lies, the problem was that every-time she found out a new fact, the more complicated the picture became, and the more lies she was confronted with. She had reached the end, her current investigations had been risky enough, anything else would be almost suicidal, without many more results. And what of this plan of Shinji's, wasn't it suicide? How did he know it was going to work?

Misato looked from Rei to Shinji, he had started to eat again, allowing Misato time to think.

Barriers to the soul, Shinji had said, what the hell? This was way over Misatos head. But then again considering all she had seen, all she had learnt, it wasn't as strange as it seemed. Misato remembered back to her own (dream) during the blackout. She shuddered slightly as some of it came back to her, was it really the truth, was it really what she was like, her motives her desires. She shook her head to clear the thoughts, she could still not accept these thoughts. 'Imagine you had to, that would be hell…..'

Misato grinned slightly at the thought of Gendo going through it, then frowned slightly as she remembered Shinji already had.

Well, Rei seemed to be confident It would work, and she never stated any facts without being almost 100 confident. 'What was Rei anyway? Was she an Angel?' Misato thought, getting slightly annoyed. 'Oh for the love of God! To only ONCE know the truth, to only once see the whole picture, to know what it was she was searching for!

'I would give my life, to only have the truth in my hand for an instant!' Misato thought to herself. Her connection to Kaji suddenly felt almost tangible.

'Well was there anyway forward?' she asked herself. Her expression turned downtrodden. No, no matter how long she stayed with NERV she would never see the truth, Kaji had known that, and it had cost him his life. Thinking back to now she also felt that something was building, whatever the truth was it was going to happen soon, and without her knowing it. This was her one and only chance to ever know, as crazy as the plan was. What was the truth worth to her?

"Would we find out the truth about NERV and SEELE?" asked Misato suddenly. Shinji was not expecting the question and had to finish his mouthful before answering. He thought about the answer for a second, remembering his mindset just after the incident, and indeed his current mindset.

"I believe so" he said finally, he looked at her, a little anxiously. He didn't have to wait long.

"I'm in" she said finally.

Shinji, relieved, discussed the finer details of the preliminary plan, He did not think they had much time so he planned to act during the next synchronisation test in two days time. Working together, and discussing for a considerable time, all three formulated a plan. Actually, in the end, it was quite simple, as all agreed early that an escape plan was impossible, and so irrelevant. After formulating the plot they were each lost in their own thoughts. Unable to continue eating, they started to clean up in silence. Pen Pen was still hanging around Rei, remembering the food from last night, she took some of the leftovers kneeling down to give him some. Misato looked across to see her stroking his head, and smiling? Misato was shocked, more so then when Shinji was talking to her… Her train of thought completely derailed she looked from Shinji to Rei. Shinji was quietly drying the dishes, Rei was patting PenPen, this tiny, insignificant scene settled a lot of her remaining doubt on the matter. Her mind largely cleared Misato perked up a bit.

"How about we all go out tomorrow… to the beach!" She said with a great big smile.

Shinji turned to look at her "To the beach?" he asked questioningly, he had been lost in his own thoughts.

"Sure why not!" said Misato more enthusiastically. "We'll stay in Motsumato for the night, I have tomorrow off. And heck, if were going to go though with this crazy scheme we may as well enjoy our last day of freedom!"

Shinji looked doubtful.

"Come on you two think about it, tomorrow we spend up big!" Misato continued. "No matter what happens after tomorrow, NERV accounting isn't going to be able to bill me this time!"

Listening to her own rhetoric, she began to like the idea more and more. It was rubbing off on Shinji as well, who looked at Rei expectantly.

'Why not? It sounds like fun' he thought, better then moping around.

"O.K Misato, sounds like fun" he said with a smile, both turned to look at Rei, who simply said;

"If you wish."

Both beamed at her. Misato spent the rest of the night planing the next day and insisted that Rei stay over so that they could get up early the next day. Rei stated that she did not have her bathers. To which Misato replied that she didn't need any and that she would buy everything the next day, it would be more fun that way. They set up the couch for Shinji to sleep in (Shinji's room being volunteered by Misato, but he did not really mind). Everyone avoided the subject of Asukas room, not wishing to discuss it at that moment. And so soon they were all changed and into bed (on Misatos insistence) Shinji said goodnight to Rei and Misato and lay down on the couch, Pen Pen slumped next to him. The house was finally silent. Shinji settled into his temporary bed, staring up at the ceiling.

'Sod it' Shinji thought to himself with a smile. 'The big showdown is two days away!'

He was going to look forward to just tomorrow, and with these thoughts in his head, he promptly fell asleep.

Author's notes:

This first bit might seem a bit slow to some, but I felt is was necessary for character and plot development, plus there should have been enough packed in to keep most people amused. A lot of fan-fics don't bother explaining why or how characters change, and how potlines are formed and I felt that these development are critical for a smooth complex story. Don't worry, it speeds up from here on in!

16


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1: Spring Thaw**

I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion, its just a fan-fiction, read and enjoy.

Some feedback to my reviewers: (thanks!)

Dairokkan: Bathers are swimming-trunks, swimming clothes? I thought they were called bathers all over the world?

Lordmaquareion: I would post smaller chapters but its 100,000 words all up, so I have to keep it somewhat manageable. Thanks for the tip though, and the vote of confidence.

Blackangel32076: Thanks for the complement, more good relationship stuff to come.

**1.2 Fun in the sun**

Authors notes:

Some more character development, but its not so heavy for this part, time to have some fun!

The next day proved to be a whirlwind of activity, enjoyment and surprises. The three travellers all piled into the car early and drove off to Motsimoto beach. The roads were relatively empty, with few people travelling in these dangerous times. The trip was accompanied by loud joyous music from the radio, impromptu singing from Misato, as well as mild ribbing and mock arguments about music selection between Shinji and Misato. Shinji was really starting to liven up, and the mood was infectious, PenPen was jumping around the back seat and even Rei had a small smile on her face. When they arrived they found the beach surprisingly full, as the beautiful day had drawn even the most reluctant people out into the sun.

The first order of business was shopping, with Misato delighting in the concept of being able to buy Rei a new outfit. She placed Shinji and PenPen on two stools, forcing them to play fashion judge as Rei was presented to them in an endless selection of bathing suits, from old models to bikini. Misato found the bikini smashing (after seeing Shinji's reaction, _turning bright red_), she spun Rei around a couple of times enthusiastically. Rei, unused to this sort of rapid movement, was a little stunned, but gave a smile. Steadying she pointed over to a sporty two piece, light blue with white trims. She tried it on, looking at herself in the full length mirror, Shinji and Misato noticing a small smile on her face. Seeing them staring at her Rei blushed a little. Shinji, enthused suggested a sarong, and Misato found a wide brimmed straw hat (remembering Reis complexion) and the outfit was complete. They all agreed, it was a stunning selection. Misato payed without even looking at the bill, the trio then headed strait for the beach.

It was a lovely day, with plenty of sunbathers out (the three hiring some chairs and a sun umbrella). It was a relaxing day full of swimming, for Shinji close to shore, and even playing with a Frisbee. Rei becoming deadly accurate after being taught the basics by Shinji. About lunchtime Rei and Misato went to get an ice cream while Shinji worked on a sandcastle, they were gone for quite some time. After awhile they finally returned, with Misato claiming that they had just taken their time with their selection, Shinji knew that this was an obvious lie, but let it go. The day passed and towards evening Shinji complained that they had not had a proper lunch. Misato suggested they grab a hotel room, change and head out for an early dinner. Jumping in the car Misato quickly headed for the most expensive resort in the area, a very fancy establishment right on the beach itself. Without asking about the cost she ordered three adjoining rooms with a combined balcony, winking at Shinji as she handed over the NERV card.

"May as well get something back from the company while I can" she said, smiling.

The rooms were stunning, the nicest place Shinji had ever been in by a long, loooong way. He ran out onto the balcony to see Misato coming out of her own room, all smiles. They exchanged impressions of their rooms, grinning all the way, and went over to Reis room. She was standing in the bathroom looking at the spa and massive mirror over the vanity.

"It is very large" she said when asked how she liked her room. Misato told them both to hurry up, and herded Shinji back to his room, giving him some bags, telling him to put-on the contents and meet them in the foyer in thirty minutes. The bag contained a pair of very expensive looking new shoes, a belt, watch, charcoal dress pants and a mauve colour dress shirt, silk. Shinji admired the clothes, placing them on his massive double bed.

So that's where they were while I was building a sandcastle, he thought to himself.

Considering the time, he drew himself a bath in the spa, filling it with bubbles, and generally having a ball. He spent 5 minutes getting ready, brushing his teeth, getting his hair in order and putting on his clothes. Admiring himself in the mirror for a second he smiled and headed out towards the foyer.

The foyer itself was massive, with grand marble clad pillars and ornate decorations. Admiring the architecture Shinji didn't even notice that the girls were fifteen minutes late. When they did show up however he almost fell back into the fountain he was sitting on the edge of.

Descending the stares were two of the loveliest woman Shinji had ever seen. Misato was wearing a open shouldered black evening dress, cut long with an elegant part, sparkling sequins spun into swirling patterns making the whole dress shimmer. Rei, equally stunning, was in a slightly shorter blue evening dress, the material transparent, blue sequins were spun into elaborate patterns massing at strategic points to hide her modesty, very elegant. The picture was complete with modest but sparkling jewellery, an amazing site. Shinji noticed however that both of the girls' hair were only slightly more in order then he was used too. They had only had half an hour after all. Shinji went towards them, jaw still slaking, he stumbled slightly over a rug, Misato giggled.

"You two… you two look fantastic!" said Shinji, not hiding his admiration. Staring at each one of them in turn 'They looked even better close up!' he thought to himself

"You don't look so bad yourself young man." replied Misato, leaning back to admire Shinji.

"So shall we go for dinner?" Misato instructed more then asked. She grabbed Shinjis hand, as he was still preoccupied with starring at the two.

Dinner turned out to be a lavish affair, with seafood and salads so varied that Shinji could not even try them all. The restaurant itself was massive, with a large central dance floor, one side of which had the bar. Misato was drinking some expensive wine and had convinced Shinji and Rei to join her for one glass, though the two stopped at that, the taste not agreeing with them. They finished dinner and sat watching the few people dancing when Misato suddenly hit on an idea. Standing up suddenly she grabbed Shinjis hand and headed to the dance floor. Shinji, caught unaware, didn't have time to protest and stumbled after her.

"Misato!" he said exasperated, but it was too late. They were already standing in the middle of the dance floor, Misatos arms in position.

"Oh, don't complain" she said scoldingly " I want to dance, and don't say you can't, I saw you dance with Asuka remember" she said looking down.

"But that was a different" complained Shinji.

"Oh bull! It's all the same, just move to the music." she said dismissingly, slightly ignoring him she continued, stating "Listen I'll show you the moves and then you lead O.K"

Before he could reply she had already started to sway to the music, leading Shinji around the room. At first he stumbled and miss stepped but with a little prompting he quickly found the rhythm. The first song ended and a second more festive piece began. Paying attention to her motions Shinji quickly got the hang of it, and after a while Shinji even had time to look at the other dancers, taking in their moves as well. Noticing Shinji's lack of attention Misato stoped leading. Shinji continued for a while then they slowed and finally stopped

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"Nothing, you seem to have caught on, it's your turn to lead"

Shinji looked doubtful. Misato put on her best teasing voice and bent down close to Shinjis ear.

"Now I know your used to just following whatever girls say Shinji, but you know leading IS a '_mans_' job…. I understand if you don't want to" she finished, smiling cheekily. Shinji gave a smirk at the obvious ploy but allowed it to work on him, a determined look taking over his face.

"Well then, hold on Misato" he said, starting to lead, firstly with the standard moves then followed by improvisations from what he observed others do, as well as some things taken from his training with Asuka. Soon he and Misato were spinning around the room, her dress twirling as Shinji got more bold with his moves. Though he occasionally fumbled and even with some uncertain moments, the efforts of the two were non-the less impressive, especially considering Shinjis size compared to Misato. Misato was having a ball, letting out joyous yelps and complementing Shinjis prompts, and at songs end she leaned heavily into a dip. Shinji strained to hold her greater weight, just managing to hang on. Misato righted herself and looked at Shinji, who was holding his back with one hand comically. Laughing, Misato turned to Rei who had been sitting watching from the table.

"Rei can you come here please." she said. Slowly but immediately Rei stood up, and walked over. Shinji was still stretching his back and was not paying attention.

"I'm afraid Shinjis a little too energetic for me, can you take over for me Rei?" asked Misato as the next song started up. Shinji, hearing this, turned, and looked as if he was about to object. Misato leaned over.

"I mean someone has to help him work off all the food he just ate"

And with that she hit him playfully in the stomach. Shinji went from holding his back to holding his stomach, somehow still managing to give Misato a dirty look. Misato however had grabbed both pilots, forcing them together on the dance floor.

"Well have fun kids I'm off for a drink!" she said, walking off. Shinji gave her an exasperated look as she left, then turned to face Rei.

"So you want to dance?" he asked questioningly.

"I'm not sure how." came the predictable reply.

"That's O.K just follow my lead… you saw how Misato and I danced…… its easy." Shinji replied. He started to move. Rei was stiff to begin with, but soon began moving smoothly

"Just follow the music" he said with a grin. And the two danced. Shinji smiled and Reis expression softening slightly from her usual cold expression, maybe even a bit of a smile…

Misato watched from the bar, drinking a cocktail of some description. The music was slower than the last song that Misato had danced with Shinji too and the two glided around the room very elegantly. Misato though, was in a different frame of mind. So finishing her drink in one gulp and moved over to the band, which was playing from the podium to one side. Misato signalled the conductor over, whispering in his ear while he was still conducting, he nodded with a smile. Grinning, Misato returned to the bar. The music ended and everyone clapped the band, the conductor bowed and turned back, everyone waited for the next song. Suddenly the trumpet player stood up alone and started to play, fast and loud. The trumpeter played to a South American beat, with the rest of the band soon joining in enthusiastically.

The music was to fast for most couples on the dance floor, with many leaving to go back to their tables. Three younger couples stayed however, with one pair (Shinji thought they were South American) starting an extravagant routine enthusiastically. Shinji and Rei exchanged uncertain glances (for Rei this meant a slightly disapproving version of her usual neutral face).

"Come on you two, show these people what NERV personnel are capable off!" shouted Misato from back at the bar enthusiastically "It's the same beat as your training, now don't let me down!"

Shinji gave Rei a smile and she responded in kind, nodding her approval. Shinji was energised beyond words by this amazing gesture, at least for Rei, and took hold of her hand. Concentrating hard he listened to the music, waiting for the right time to start. They began a little cautiously, but the music was simply too fast, and the two were soon into an improvised routine moving fast to the beat. The dance steps Shinji had learnt with Asuka were not one hundred percent compatible with the song, and Shinji tried to counter by mimicking some aspects of the South American couples movements.

Their movement was far from perfect, but Shinji's enthusiasm and concentration coupled with Rei's grace and adaptability, which countered his occasional errors and mistimes, meant the two were holding their own, and looking good. Driven by each other's enthusiasm the four couples stepped up a gear and the restaurant was treated to an impressive amateur dancing display. Starting to lose himself in the music Shinji was having a ball, Rei appeared to be enjoying herself as well. Rei had observed much of Asukas and Shinjis routine, so the two dancers were able to part and meet up in time smoothly, moving surprisingly close. Before they knew it the end of the song came, with all four couples ending in impressive finishing positions. There was a large applause as the patrons clapped the band and the dancers. Shinji had not noticed that almost everyone had been watching the couples and blushed a little, Rei, seemingly oblivious to the surrounding guests, looked around the dance floor. Rei observed two of the couples kissed before leaving the dance floor and the last couple hugged. Shinji, who hadn't noticed, took hold of Rei's hand and led her over to Misato, who was waiting with two lemonades. They both took the drinks gratefully, the last dance being quite physical. Misato praised the both of them, saying that they were wasted as Eva Pilots, which got a laugh from Shinji and a surprised look from Rei, followed by a smile. The three sat down at the bar looking out at the restaurant, chatting through the next song. The song ended in the usual round of clapping and a pause, followed by yet another song, a slightly quicker walz type piece. Shinji was going on about the architecture when Rei interrupted by placing her hand on his.

Shinji, surprised, looked at Rei, who quietly asked if he would like to dance again. Shinji, now stunned, turned to Misato for guidance, she promptly gave him a wink and leaned back on the Bar. Shinji turned back to Rei and said. "Sure thing."

The two danced for the next forty five-minute strait, neither indicating that they wanted to stop. Misato was drinking happily at the bar and kindly but firmly turned away the numerous number of men that came up to talk to her.

Not quite able to remember exactly how many strange cocktails she had consumed, Misato joined Shinji and Rei on the dance floor in order to excused herself for the evening. The numerous consumed drinks had starting to kick in, she asked the two if they would be alright on their own. Looking at each other for a second, both pilots nodded. Giving them an odd wink Misato then promptly walked, a little shackely, back to her room, singing a little tune to herself on the way.

Shinji and Rei continued dancing for another 15 minutes or so, ending with a nice slow song, during which Rei placed her head on Shinjis shoulder, and the two moved slowly arm in arm. The band finished for the evening, getting a large ovation from the remaining patrons. After accepting the applause the band began to pack up. Shinji and Rei left the restaurant via the courtyard, walking by the large pool illuminated subtly by some elegantly placed fairy lights in the surrounding trees.

The night was mild and clear with the stars out in force. The two ended up at the start of a path that led down to the beach. Shinji asked Rei if she wanted to take a walk on the beach, to which she nodded, slipping of her shoes and picking them up. They headed through the gardens. Shinji was startled to stumble upon a young couple, making-out in one of the small gazebos that littered the grounds, blushing, he doubling their pace to get by quickly.

A short time later they arrived at the beach, and after Shinji removed his shoes they both waded through the water for a while, enjoying the moonlight night. They seated themselves a little further on, Rei sitting close to Shinji but not touching him, both stared off at the horizon.

"So did you have fun today Rei?" Shinji finally asked, glancing over at Rei, there was a pause, finally Rei said "It has been… very interesting"

Shinji half expected this, though the relaxed manner in which she had said it in, as well as the fact that she had held her smile meant more to Shinji then anything else. He turned to look at the horizon again, smiling.

"Why have you done this?" came a quiet question from Shinji side. He turned to face Rei, she was looking straight into his eyes.

"Why did you and Misato take me with you today?" she asked again, Shinji had half expected such a question sooner or later and so was not really surprised. He gave her a smile, but couldn't maintain eye contact. Turning away he said.

"People like to see others who they care for….. enjoying themselves.." he paused a little " And me and Misato care for you Rei, we just thought you might have fun today, that's all"

He looked back out at the ocean.

"I wasn't sure if you have ever done anything just for fun before." he said, a little more down cast. Though picking up he finished with "What can I say, I just wanted to see your nice smile again."

He continued to stare calmly off into the distance. Again a pause.

"Thank you Shinji, I had…. fun today" she said softly. Shinji turned to look at her and found himself staring straight into her large crimson eyes. She had moved closer after her comment, leaning into him. He stared into her eyes for a moment, the moment was simply too perfect her eyes two beautiful, she slowly leaned forward, Shinji tilting his head slightly at the last second. And so there they were, sitting in the sand, their first tender kiss. It lasted for some time, Shinji hand came up to gently hold the side of Reis face and Rei pressed close to Shinji's body, using her non leaning arm to give him a half hug. They stopped after a while and Rei stayed close, leaning on Shinji and resting her head on the side of his arm, it was quite comfortable and they stayed like that for a while.

Rei however was not used to such a long day and gave out a quiet yawn, which Shinji felt rather then heard. Shinji suggested they head back, and the two moved off towards their rooms. Walking back on the beach, Shinji was a little shocked to have one of his hands grasped while he walked. He almost stoped walking, but recovered quickly enough to continue, turning his head to give Rei a quick smile. Outside Rei's room they hit on a snag, expecting a goodnight kiss at most, Shinji was surprised to instead hear.

"I do not want to be alone."

She looked at him warmly, though her subtlety in expressing emotion made her still very difficult to read, it was however still obvious that she was rather tired. Shinji had to struggle a little to get his hormones back in check, though in truth knowing what she meant was simple companionship. Calming down, he thought for a second, eventually suggesting that they sleep on the veranda in two of the very large padded deck chairs, it was a mild night after all. Agreeing, he left her to get changed. Quickly changing, he walked outside with blanket and pillow in arm. The connecting veranda was very large, offering a glorious view down to the beach and ocean beyond. The deck chairs were just outside of Misatos room. Approaching them Shinji could hear Misato snoring audibly from her room, and grinned to himself. He pushed two well-padded deck chairs close to another. Throwing his sheets over one, he quickly made his bed. Lying down he pulled over a light sheet and adjusting his pillow to make himself comfortable. He gazed up at the stars. 'Not a bad idea.' he thought to himself. He heard Rei's sliding doors open, and turned his head to see her walking towards him, wearing only a shirt and carrying her sheets and a pillow. He closed his eyes, smiling.

"Great idea of mine I think, it's a lovely night." he said, happy with himself.

He stretched out and opened his eyes again to find Rei standing over him, pillow in hand, a tired smile on her face. He looked at her standing there, then kicked himself for even bothering to be surprised. He moved so as to lift the sheets, and she climbed in, snuggling up next to him, her head on his shoulder. He covered them both with the sheet, his mind still annoyed at itself for not expecting this, in the meantime however Rei had already fallen asleep, breathing softly on his chest. With nothing else to do Shinji looked up at the stars above, soon drifting off himself.

Misato awoke early the next day, having had enough foresight to set the alarm before collapsing into bed. A veteran of bad nights she recovered quickly with the help of some special tablets she had brought along.

"Thank you Ritsuko." she said, downing the tablets and washing her face in the sink.

Yawning and stretching fully she went out onto the balcony to enjoy a bit of fresh air, instead she almost stoped breathing! Finding Shinji and Rei still asleep on the deckchair. Shinji, stretched out in all directions, drooling slightly, and Rei, curled up, was wrapped around him to one side. Misato didn't know if she thought the scene was shocking or sweet, deciding on something in-between, she lent over to do quick scan of the sheets, satisfied she decided to wake the two up. Leaning over the chair so as to throw a shadow on Shinjis face, Misato coughed loudly. Shinji opened his eyes slowly to see the very close and very angry face of Misato, he froze in panic, then slid out of Reis grip sideways, falling backwards onto the ground while maintaining is sight on Misato, overall a very impressive gymnastic feat.

"Mi … Mi Misato! It's not what you think!" he said, backing away on all fours. Misato, holding her angry look, watched him back away. With all the sudden activity Rei also awoke, slowly getting up and stretching during the other events. Smiling slightly she said

"Good morning Misato."

Rei then turned to look at Shinji, his back now against the railing, she gave a slightly surprised look. Misatos expression changed one hundred and eighty degrees, she turned to give Rei a beaming smile and warm said;

"Morning Rei, did you sleep well" beamed Misato. Turning back to Shinji she gave him a wink. Shinji let out a long breath, sweat drop forming.

"Thanks a lot Misato!" he said with a little annoyance, but he was to relieved to have any conviction in his voice. "You scared me half to death with that look, I thought you were going to kill me!" he said getting up.

"Well I don't really mind" she said, posing "But a good scare should keep you in line a bit, I mean you are a fourteen year old boy." she said, finishing with a smirk on he face.

"I do not understand" interrupted Rei, still a confused look on her face. Shinji walked up to Misato, knocking her playfully with his shoulder, upon which she grabbed him and messed up his hair.

"It's O.K. Rei." said Shinji laughing, releasing himself from Misatos grip.

"Let's go have breakfast." said Misato happily. And Rei, smiling slightly again, followed them into Misatos room.

Breakfast was brought up to the three, and they all ate on the veranda. PenPen emerging from the bathroom to join them, having disappeared into there as soon as they got the rooms, the hot weather was not agreeing with him all that much. They finished up and packed up the car, taking one last look at the resort. Shinji, followed by Rei thanked Misato again for the great trip.

The drive back was quick, the mood in the car turning steadily more sombre as all began to think about what this day actually held install for them. They dropped Pen Pen back at the apartment, quickly leaving their things and heading straight onto NERV. There was minimal conversation as all were lost in there own thoughts. About 15 minutes away they began to go through the plan again, making sure they all knew their places, and worked through some contingency plans. Arriving at NERV Misato parked the car in the underground car park and got out, a completely serious expression now on her face. Shinji and Rei followed, and soon all three were standing next to the car.

"Well that's it then, we sure we want to go through with this?" Misato said with a weak smile. Shinji responding with his own weak smile, and nodded determinedly

"Will Ritsuko be a problem do you think?" asked Shinji.

"I don't think so, but we should manage our primary objective whatever happens" she replied. Now back into commander mode.

"Well then… good luck Misato" said Shinji, trying hard to take the uncertainty out of his words. Misato, now completely in military mode nodded and headed of to the elevator, no further signs of emotion present in her face. Though as she turned away her eyes betrayed some of her thoughts. Shinji and Rei proceeded to the change rooms where they put on their plug suits, then headed up towards the testing area.

They entered through the only outside door into a large holding chamber, which housed the two Evas, Shinji locking the door behind him. Eva units 01 and 02 were standing backs up against the wall, entry plugs standing by. They walked across the platform to the short corridor that led up into the control centre. Entering the enclosed space they were about to make their way up the stairs when Rei suddenly stopped Shinji by grabbing his hand. Shinji turned and was about to ask why she had stoped him when she answered his question, pining him lightly against the wall. Shinji was surprised to be on the receiving end of a somewhat more passionate kiss, he recovered and kissed back a little, before the two sets of lips parted ways.

"Thank you Shinji, for everything" she said, looking at him sombrely. Shinji was still getting his thoughts in order, and it took a little while for him to respond, after a short pause he manage to calmly say.

"My pleasure Rei"

But then took a deep breath, in staying calm he had forgotten to breath!

"Don't worry this'll work, you'll see" he said a little more relaxed. Shinji gave her hand a comforting squeeze, smiling a little before letting go, and with that the two parted, Shinji leading the way up the stairs.

Authors note:

Short but hopefully sweet.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 1: Spring Thaw**

I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion, its just a fan-fiction, read and enjoy.

Authors note:

This section contains important story depth, a bit of background investigation and important character development, complex but entertaining, I hope. ;)

**1.3 Who can save us?**

Misato, Ritsuko, Fuyuzuki, Maya and Commander Ikari were waiting for the pilots in the control room.

Casually, but with a hint of stress, Ritsuko went through the testing schedule, apparently there had been some modifications to unit 01s connections and she wanted to see their performance, in real time, compared with the old system still installed in unit 00. Shinji nodded in his normal un-enthused way and turned to leave. Rei remained behind, and turned to face Commander Ikari.

"Can we talk commander?" she asked in her usual calm voice. Maya, Ritsuko and Fuyuzuki broke off their work on the computers to look at Rei. Fuyuzuki gave Gendo a worried glance. There was an awkward pause and Shinji stopped to look back. Misato held her breath as Gendo looked at Rei, his hands clasped together in front of his face, his usual pose. There was a pause, but then Gendo suddenly raised from his chair.

"Go on pilot Ikari…. I will walk you to your Eva Rei" he said, making his way across the room. Fuyuzuki watched the three leave down the stairs, he then glanced at Misato, who appeared nervous for some reason. It was going well, Rei did not even have to come up with a reason for the commander to accompany her down to the Eva.

Shinji was already some way ahead and stalled for time outside his entry plug to allow the other two to catch up. Rei and Gendo got to the junction in the walkway, one direction leading to unit 00 the other to unit 01 and Shinji. Pausing for a second Rei headed towards unit 01, where Shinji was standing, Gendo stopped behind her.

"What I have to talk about concerns unit 01" she said, noticing his inaction, turning back she walked on. Gendo stayed where he was for a few seconds, his frown growing deeper then normal, he then followed her over to where Shinji was kneeling, apparently _inspecting the entry plug_.

Coming to a stop outside the open entry plug Gendo turned to Rei.

"What is this all about?" he asked, annoyance present in his dark voice. Rei stood there while Shinji hands gripped the pistol left by Misato earlier this morning, hidden just inside the entry plug. Shinji stood up, calmly moving around the side of Gendo, who was still awaiting an answer. Shinji circled his target, some ten meters away, he was walking slowly, hand-gun raised.

"This is about you, father" he said evenly. "Take off your clothes and get into the entry plug" he continued coldly, he finished moving around to Gendos immediate left, standing rigid, feet apart.

Up in the control room Misato had waited for this event, and while the others had just begun to look shocked she had already drawn her pistol, stepping away from her colleagues she shouted.

"Nobody move! Hands up, I want you all against the wall!"

All three turned to face Misato, her gun pointing at their faces. Originally in shock, Maya's expression turned fearful, Ritsukos was confused but Fuyuzukis quickly turned back to his usual grim expression.

"What.. What are you doing Misato? Have you gone crazy?" demanded Ritsuko, completely perplexed. Behind her Fuyuzuki tried to make a quick move to the emergency alarm. Misato spotted the move and fired a shot, destroying a section of panel next to the button.

Back down on the platform Shinji heard the shot, and in a show of inexperience turned his head. Gendo, seeing Shinji flinch out of the corner of his eye, quickly drew his own gun and without hesitation fired a round at Shinji's chest. There was a loud audible clap and Shinji and Gendo were violently thrown in opposite directions, Shinji landed on some containers, Gendo against the railing. Though sudden, both Ikaris managed to hold onto their weapons. Rei was still standing, her arms extended in front of her, a look of concentration on her face. The last of a hexagonal AT field could be seen fading in-between the two Ikaris, illuminated through the absorption of the bullet. Gendo recovered quicker, standing and turning his gun on Rei. Firing three quick shots. All three bullets hit her AT field, making a lot of noise but doing no damage. Shinji had finally recovered, scrambling to his feet he aimed his gun at Gendo, firing off a single shot, the bullet struck his father in the shoulder. The impact knocked the gun out of Gendos hand, the gun tumbling off the ledge. Shocked at his own actions Shinji watched Gendo clutch at his shoulder with his good hand, a strange silence returned. The only sound that remained being the clatter of the gun on its long journey to the base of the test area. Gendo, still holding his shoulder with his good arm, faced Shinji, eyes filled with rage. Still no sound escaped the Commanders bitterly clenched teeth. Shinji however was now calm, holding the gun with one hand, his left hand had clenched into a fist.

"Do not try anything else father, you will take off you clothes and get into the entry plug, or I _will_ kill you" he said coldly. His father remained were he was, defiant, simply standing there. Becoming agitated Shinji cocked the gun with his thumb, his eyes narrowing to slits "I would prefer not to kill you as this is more useful to me, though don't try my patience.. do you really doubt my resolve?………. Father?"

His now low voice was sounding remarkably similar to Gendos.

Misato meanwhile, for her part, had been too experienced to flinch at the noise from below, she waited until they were all against the back wall before taking a quick look down.

"What's going on down there?" demanded Fuyuzuki, head turned around. Misato looked out of the window, peering anxiously down into the chamber, after a while a smile appearing on her face.

"Look's like Shinjis shot Gendo" replied Misato smirking. This managed to get a gasp from Ritsuko and Maya, but no reaction from Fuyuzuki.

"Don't worry, his still standing…………pity" said Misato with a smile.

"What do you plan to do?" asked Ritsuko, regaining some of her composure.

"Gendos going into unit 01, and then your going to activate it" she said evenly.

"Are you crazy Misato!" Ritsuko burst out, "What on earth is the point of that, your going to accomplish nothing from this little stunt!"

Ritsuko was starting to get very angry. Returning her dirty look Misato turned her attention back to the three captives.

"Shinji believes that under the right conditions this is the only way to bring Gendo back to reason" Misato countered.

"Shinji believes!"

Ritsukos voice was getting even angrier. Misato suddenly looked a little doubtful, it was rather far fetched from many points of view. Ritsuko, noticing Misatos doubts, couldn't help but continue.

"So once again doing everything a man tells you to do" she said bitterly, not even bothering to keep her arms up any more. "You just can't help yourself can you Misato"

The tone was edged perfectly for maximum venom. It was a wrong move, Misato snapped at this attack and screaming back.

"Who the hell are YOU to tell me anything about men! Your position seems no better then mine even IN this new situation!"

Ritsuko backed away slightly, shocked.

"This whole organisation is a lie!" continued Misato. "And the people who think they know more"

She glanced at Fuyuzuki.

"Are probably further from the truth then the people who know nothing at all!"

She stoped to take a breath, more evenly, Misato continued " The only person who knows anything close to the truth is that lying bastard down there. And I for one am sick of being lied to! Better this chance to find the truth, then working one more day for the lie." she finished up, sighing heavily after the effort, her shoulders slumping.

"I owe that much to Kaji" she mumbled to herself. There was a pause, all taking in what had just been said.

"What do you hope to achieve? You can't get away" said Ritsuko more evenly.

"Once we have set up the conditions, Gendo will be set free" Misato answered.

"You think he will simply let you get away with this?" asked Ritsuko, crossing her arms, more bewildered now then angry.

"If this works like Shinji thinks it will….. Yes, otherwise it doesn't really matter, I am through with this organisation as it is." her posture strengthened, she focused squarely on Ritsuko.

"What do you care anyway?" she asked sarcastically "You've been practically under arrest for the last couple of weeks, I would have thought you would jump at the chance to hamper that bastards plans?". Ritsuko withdrew a little, glancing sideways at Fuyuzuki, who remained neutral as always.

"What conditions do you have in mind" she asked, deflecting Misatos question. Misato, wanting to get on with it, allowed her.

"The same conditions as what Shinji experienced while fighting with the 17th angel" replied Misato, quickly followed by "so are you going to help me or what Ritsuko?"

Ritsuko looked shocked for a second as she remembered back to what happened that day, what she had thought/dreamt after that fight. Her face turned from one of doubt to stern contemplation. Misato waited for a reply, honestly expecting more enthusiasm from her old friend. Then suddenly Fuyuzuki spoke up.

"We have no choice but to do as she says" he said evenly. Maya and Ritsuko turned to look at him. He continued "Plus I don't see this as doing any permanent harm to the commander."

Ritsuko doubted that very much, and it showed in the face she put on. Though seeing his expression she recognised this as some kind of approval. And whatever thoughts she was having concluded themselves.

"O.K Misato, what do you need me to do?" Ritsuko asked no-nonsense like, and with that she walked back to the consol, effectively ignoring the gun aimed at her.

Back down in the test bay, Gendo was now standing completely naked in front of the entry plug, both his hands loosely by his side, blood dripping from the fingers of his right hand. Shinji motioned with his gun hand.

"Get in" he said simply. Gendo moved into the entry plug, sitting at the controls. Shinji, still training the gun on Gendo, moved to close the hatch.

"You will regret this" Gendo said as the hatch began to close.

"For your sake" Shinji replied. " I hope not"

And with that the hatch snapped shut. Shinji dropped the gun on the ground and walked over to Rei.

"Thank you Rei" he said, taking her hand. She simply looked at him, her cheeks red with effort. He looked up at the control centre to see Misato looking down. He could also see Ritsuko bent over the console looking at him with a concentrated expression. Misato voice came over the intercom.

"Everything ready down there?"

Shinji turned to Rei, who nodded, turning back to Misato he gave a thumbs up. Ritsuko started to type away.

"You had better go up to the command centre" said Rei, turning to face the two Evas. Shinji looked at her, stalling, he suddenly moved. Running up to her he gave her a quick peck on the cheek before making a direct line for the command centre. Rei touched her cheek were Shinji had kissed her, smiling to herself for a short while, before returning to the task at hand. Ritsuko had noticed the exchange between Rei and Shinji, she raised an eyebrow, but quickly shook it off, returning to her work. Shinji arrived in time to see the entry plugs final entry protocol. The thought of his father's first experience with LCL fluid bringing a smile to his face.

"What do you want me to do know" asked Ritsuko, looking across at Shinji & Misato.

"We need you to phase Evas 01 and 02 AT fields together" said Shinji calmly.

"Use the dummy systems" he added.

"You know what a violent reaction that is Shinji, in this enclosed space who knows what it could do!" complained Maya, still at the wall. Stressed and scared Maya added shouting. "And as for the dummy plug who knows what that will do!"

"I know" said Shinji, voice still calm.

"Just do it" commanded Misato firmly, her gun now down but still obviously in control.

Ritsuko, annoyed, did as she was told. Both units activated, their eyes showing signs of life, started to glow menacingly.

"Dummy units activated" said Ritsuko back into scientist mode. Everyone in the room held their breath, expecting the worst from the unpredictable dummy systems. Nothing happened, both units simply took a loose pose.

"I need the two to touch each other" said Shinji, appraising the two massive Evas.

Ritsuko entered a string of commands, and to her genuine surprise both units moved their left and right hands, stretching their arms out across the small gap of their respective restraints connecting palm to palm, and nothing more.

"I've never seen them work this smoothly before." Ritsuko said to herself, astounded. The tension was rising in the room, both Fuyuzuki and Maya had moved to the window to look down at the Evas, Rei was still there, standing facing the two Evas.

"Extend the AT fields!" Shinji commanded. Ritsuko hit the enter command. There was a bright light, brilliant as the sun, forming from in-between the two palms of the Evas as their respective AT fields activated and merged, everyone shielded their eyes. There was a massive Clap as the AT field extended out linearly between the two Evas, impacting on the concrete walls of the test area. The concrete imploded under the strain, massive fragments flying loose. A massive pressure wave was formed, blowing in the windows of the control room, and throwing its occupants to the floor. Scrambling to their feet they moved to look into the test area. The sight was aw-inspiring, the hexagonal wall of the two merging AT fields was visibly shining brightly between the two Eva's. Looking closer the group could make out a small form in front of the two massive Evas, it was the floating form of Rei. Shining white, Rei was generating a small AT field which was distorting the otherwise hexagonal walls. She was floating in mid air, her hands out, every section of her skin omitting a brilliant light. Shinji yelled for Ritsuko to increase unit 02 field to maximum, Ritsuko punched in the commands. The force from the slowly distorting fields could be felt by everyone as it whipped up massive winds within the test area. Unit 02's field slowly began to bend back unit 01's field until it appeared to envelop unit 01 completely. They all watched as Rei became ever brighter, her AT field expanding quickly, soon she became too bright to look at, they shielded their eyes from her. Shinji clenched his eyes shut as the ever-increasing brightness seemed to go through his hands. The sound was deafening, the light blinding, just as he felt he could take no more he sensed a sudden pause, as if time had stopped completely, and then silence.

Shinji, still seeing and hearing the echoes of the commotion only moments before, could only feel the sudden reversal of airflow, and then felt suddenly energised as some kind of energy field expand through him and past him. He stood still, the sudden silence sounding louder then any noise. Shinji, shaking his head to clear the echos, began to reclaim his sight and hearing. Looking up he saw that everyone around him had suddenly gone limp and collapsed to the floor, their bodies were scattered around the floor awkwardly. Shocked Shinji ran over to Misato, leaning over her body anxiously. He grabbed her hand and leant close over her face, relieved to find her breathing softly. Calming down, he looked at her for a while then at the others, they all looked peacefully asleep. Suddenly remembering Rei, Shinji quickly got up and raced down to the test floor area. He came down just in time to see Rei float elegantly back to the walkway, massive dents and splits had deformed the mettle, but somehow it remained up. Shinji raced over, calling out to Rei to see if she was ok. Shinji only noticed that she was completely naked when he got close to her, slowing suddenly now only 10m away. She nodded at him smiling a little. Shinji, uncomfortable due her state of dress, had stoped in his tracks. Looking around he quickly ran over to grab his fathers discarded coat, Rei was initially a little surprised at Shinjis move, but smiled again when he returned with his father's coat, wrapping it around her shoulders. Shinji helped the weakened Rei, his arms holding Rei's shoulders tenderly. Slowly, they made their way up to the control room. On the way up Rei spoke.

"Why are you so concerned every time I am naked?" she asked. Shinji looked at her, not expecting such a question from Rei.

"It's nothing to be worried about, its just a silly Lillin thing" Shinji said after a while. Shinji suddenly stopped, he had used a Kaworu term without even realising it, he looked at Rei who was still simply smiling at him, mentally shrugging to himself the two moving on.

As they entered the command room, the two pilots found that everyone was still out cold. There was no sound at all any more, only the red flashing of the silent alarm tripped by the explosion.

"Has it worked?" asked Shinji looking down at Misato.

"I believe so" said Rei quietly "They are all in the same state as before, though the commanders experience is different then yours"

"In what way?" said Shinji, worried that his plan had gone wildly wrong.

"Kaworu was not an Eva, and I am not a true angel" she said calmly "he had other influences"

Shinji looked at her.

"The commanders choices are for himself, your choice however, was I think… for everyone.." she said looking at him. Shinji was struck dumb by the implications, had he really been given that much power? He had no idea at the time what his choices represented, or what consequences they held for himself or others. He looked back down at the sleeping NERV personnel.

"Are they all in the same state?" asked Shinji, deciding not to try and grasp Rei's last statement fully.

"No" responded Rei "they are experiencing what they felt last time, they are currently experiencing a sample of self, caused by the _reaction_, though they can accept or reject what they _see_"

They moved around trying to make the fallen NERV staff more comfortable from their current positions.

"The commander however is the only one who is locked into the full experience, through his connection with the Eva he is forced to observe himself in the light of others, in light of himself"

"And then he will chose?" asked Shinji.

"If he accepts what he sees, yes, he can chose to remain or come back"

"And if he does not?"

"He will be destroyed, in a way" she turned to face him "you cannot exist in that place without full self realisation, it is impossible"

Shinji thought about that for a second, he hadn't really contemplated that his father may 'fail' the experience. Suddenly his own experience seemed much more critical, could he have been destroyed, turning back to Rei he decided not to think about it. What was done was done

"Do you know why they're asleep?" he said, suddenly a thought struck him "and why I'm still awake?"

She walked over to stand next to him, taking his hand in hers she looked down at the sleeping bodies. "I think that is their minds defence, against something they do not understand or do not like." she paused "In a dream state they still see their true state but they can accept or reject what they like" she turned her head to look at Shinji "You have seen your true self, and still do, so your mind had no need to shut down."

She gave Shinji an encouraging smile.

Shinji looked down at Misato.

"How long will they be out for?" he asked finally,

"I am not sure, last time it was not that long, maybe two or three hours, you were only unconscious for 30min minutes longer then almost everyone else" said Rei. Shinji considered this for a second, looking around slowly, he found, and then picked up, Misatos gun. Shinji told Rei to go and get changed, and to meet him back at the operations centre entrance of the test area, and to bring his clothes, she nodded and left. After she left he quickly found the communications board in the control panel, aiming Misatos gun he turned away, firing two rounds into it, destroying it.

Shinji went down into the test area, jamming the other entrance by firing at the lock once. Moving quickly Shinji searched the sleeping staff and went through his fathers clothes to retrieve any communications devices, placing them all outside of the command centre in the hall. Finally he dragged Misatos limp body outside into the hall, and jammed the door shut behind him, locking in the occupants. Re-holstering Misatos gun he made her a small pillow from Fuyuzukis jacket. He wrote a quick note on a piece of paper he had removed from the command centre and placed it into Misatos pocket.

Just as he had done this Rei returned, dressed in her usual school uniform, holding Shinjis clothes in her hands. He walked over and took his clothes. Rei glanced over at Misato.

"What do we do now?" she asked.

"We wait" said Shinji evenly "But we may as well do something useful, lets go water the garden"

With that the two of them left.

Shinji left Rei at the garden to go and get changed, but returned soon to help. The two tended the garden in silence, enjoying the sounds of nature as they worked. Shinji enjoyed the piece and quiet, there was no noise in the geo front. The Magi had taken over automatically once all manual control was lost, though having to re-boot after the original short-out. So all systems were still working, but it was still very quiet. Shinji and Rei had passed many a sleeping figure on the way to the garden.

Lost in their own world they worked away for about an hour, taking a seat under a nearby tree upon completion. Rei leaned on the seated Shinji and he wrapped an arm around her. They stayed there dozing for about two hours, when finally two figures approached from NERV HQ. Shinji looked up as they approached, they were security agents, neither looked particularly rushed or stressed, just a little nervous, exactly like after the last time there was a blackout, just after the fight with Kaworu.

"Pilot Ikari, Pilot Ayanami, you are to follow us to the commander" said the agent. The two pilots stood up, following the security agents.

They went through NERV, again everyone looked dazed and unsure. Just as last time. The security agents opened the door to Gendos office foyer, letting the two pilots through, and closing it behind them.

Just as last time Fuyuzuki, Ritsuko and Misato were all sitting there silently, Shinji looked over at Misato who was sitting close to Ritsuko, they both gave the two pilots a weak smile. Shinji returned the smile, he glanced over at Fuyuzuki who was sitting at the desk drinking a coffee, he looked up at the two pilots.

"The commander is waiting for you two" Fuyuzuki said, professionally, but not unkindly.

Shinji lead the way, opening the door for Rei and followed her inside, no hint of fear present in either pilot. Shinji found Gendo sitting in his chair looking out of the window, his classic pose only in half use as one arm was now in a sling. On his desks were a multitude of papers, some had been pushed onto the floor.

The door closed with a click and both pilots made the considerable journey to Gendos desk. On the way to the desk Gendo had stood up, but still did not turn to face them, they stoped just in front of his desk, both looking at his back, awaiting a comment.

"I am sure that you both have some idea of what I just went through" he said in his usual voice. All present remained still.

"You will be happy to know that it has had the desired effect" he said. Still no motion from the two pilots. He continued "It appears I have been working under false pretences…… I have been so fixated on the one goal now for so long, that I have not allowed myself to see the truth" he turned to face them. "That what I was aiming for was not only unattainable…" he paused to look at both of them separately "but I see now that the consequences of these actions would have simply been to high."

Shinji studied his face, he appeared the same as always, though the intensity was gone from his eyes, still strong but not hard, Shinji thought he looked more human. Shinji himself however, did not change his expression, still remaining alert and determined. Gendo returned to his desk, taking a seat.

"I am _no_t however, the person ultimately in control of this organisation as you may well know" he continued, leaning forward to organising his desk. "And the people in control have not had the benefit of my" he stopped, looking up at Shinji "our" he corrected "insight." pausing for a second he continued. "And these individuals have potentially even more dangerous beliefs than I did. We are all in great danger, I am not sure if my actions can stop, what I now see to be folly."

He looked back down at the papers.

"But I will try" he said. Again silence filled the room, Gendo took in a deep breath, continuing to organise his desk.

"I hope that I can count on the two of you to giving your best efforts" he said, looking at them.

"Yes sir." said Rei immediately.

"Yes sir." said Shinji, only a few seconds later.

Gendo removed his glasses, smiling a little in a for once, non-threatening manner.

"Indeed" he said placing his glasses on the table.

"As you may appreciate, I have much to set right, and very little time to do it in."

He started to sort the paper again.

"Hopefully I will have time later to explain things a little clearer" said Gendo. A weak smile crossed his face, and for the first time Shinji could remember he looked tired, though almost immediately a more determined expression returned to his face once more.

"For now however I ask that you call professor Fuyuzuki in on your way out, Misato will inform you of the immediate situation." said Gendo, looking at them both.

Shinji and Rei nodded in acceptance and turned to leave. Just before they reached the door however Gendo spoke again.

"Rei, Shinji" called Gendo, still at his desk. They stopped, turning back to look at him.

"Sorry…." he said simply "and thank you." The words were left hanging as the two pilots contemplated these entirely new words from the commander.

Shinji smiled broadly, nodding slowly to his father in acknowledgment. He turned again grabbing the door handle.

"Good luck… father" he said in a clear confident voice, and with that left the room. Shinji did not have to say anything to Fuyuzuki as he came out of Gendos office. He got up as soon as the door opened, nodding at them both as he quickly walked by them to enter Gendos office, closing the door behind him.

The door closed with a click, leaving only the air-conditioning to hum away in the background, Shinji looked over at Misato and Ritsuko who were sitting on the sofas. Moving over Shinji took a seat next to Misato.

"So, what happened?" he asked after a little while.

Misato quickly filled them in on the details of what happened after they had left her unconscious in the hall, she spoke in a calm but official manner, having slipped straight into commander mode after their reappearance from Gendos office. Shinji, listening, thought that this was probably a defensive reaction to stop herself getting emotional in front of Ritsuko.

Apparently after Misato came too, she had read the note, after a while she decided to re-enter the command centre. She found Ritsuko, Fuyuzuki and Maya down in the test chamber helping the unconscious Gendo out of the entry plug, Misato called the medics with her communicator and went down to help her three former captives. The three had seemingly forgotten about Misatos recent actions and treating her as if nothing had happened, being still dazed from the blackout. They were all slow to recover fully, and the medic team took some time to get to them. Gendo regained consciousness only minutes after they arrived. At the beginning he was totally disorientated but then quietly told the medics to stop (once they had finished dressing his gunshot wound they did as they were told). Gendo slowly got into a sitting position on the stretcher, a rather difficult action considering one arm was now in a sling. A conscientious nurse wrapped a blanket around his shoulder. Gendo brought his left hand to his face, rubbing his eyes, Misato had held her breath as he removed his hand from in front of his eyes, to look around at the people in front of him.

"We have much to do… and little time to do it in" he had said, still a little weak. He stood up, slowly wrapping the blanked around his body.

"You are all to report to my office in ten minutes" he said starting to walk off, a little unsteadily. The nurse was about to suggest that he should lay down for a while, but she was wisely restrained by her superior. After a few steps he stopped, turning to face Misato.

"Please organise the retrieval of Shinji and Rei as soon as possible." Gendo said, and with that he walked on. The three officers exchanged glances then did as they were told.

Soon afterwards they all met in Gendos office, he had washed up a bit and changed back into normal clothes, Misato had informed security of Shinji's and Rei's location, as she had read it from the note Shinji had left her. Misato and the other two senior members met up in Gendos office. Gendo was sitting at his desk, some files strewn over its normally neat surface. They all awaited his comments, a little uneasily. When he finally spoke it was in his normal calm authoritarian voice, though with less edge then usual. Gendo firstly asked Misato who had come up with the plan, nodding to himself upon hearing the answer, Shinji. After a slight pause of contemplation he gave a quick speech about how he and Fuyuzuki had been working under false pretences, to which Fuyuzukis expression only betrayed a little amount of surprise. Gendo continued by saying they had been blinded by their… his, own goals. They had been unable to see the truth, that NERV was simply an operational wing of SEELE and that he, Gendo, had manipulated SEELE to achieve his own ends, believing that his actions would lead to a more personally favourable outcome of the SEELE plan. Now though he realised that the entire premise was folly, stating that the interpretations of the Dead Sea Scrolls had contained critical misinterpretations, ones that SEELE still believed and would follow through to the bitter end. Gendo admitted that through his own actions, the situation had become critical, through the advancement of the core directive of SEELE and the current mistrust that the organisation had for him personally. The initial plans were effectively finished, with all components necessary for SEELES plan being within NERV HQ. Gendo paused for a second, continuing he said that given the current situation he believed SEELE would soon act to take what it wanted from NERV by force.

At this stage Ritsuko interrupted, obviously accepting what Gendo had said so far to be true, she asked why they didn't simply abandon NERV and destroy the facility. Gendo continued, saying that while that would destroy the immediate threat, SEELE still possessed the resources to push through their plans with time. And that the loss of this facility, its personnel and its resources would mean such a handicap, that stopping SEELE in the long run would be very unlikely. Misato asked what the current course of action was. Gendo said that he believed that It was a matter of days, maybe hours, before SEELE launched an all out assault, and that he was going to go to the world council to expose SEELE and ask for immediate military intervention to hopefully save NERV, and all of humanity. Misato, still confused about SEELEs organisation, asked how they could organise a military operation within Japan at such short notice. Gendo shortly elaborated that SEELEs was an ancient secret organisation, one with arms in all spheres of power, staying mostly in the background, using disinformation to attain their goals. Their current form had become much more public however, out of necessity, due to the infrastructure required to fulfil their aims, though the lies naturally continued. Gendo hoped that the sudden increase in SEELEs profile had led to their investigation by the powers that be, though he was certain that none could find fault on their own, he was also sure that no-one not directly involved with SEELE trusted their motives. He left it at that, stating that he would have to act immediately if they wanted to stand a chance. He finished by saying that if he had the chance, these words sounding very ominous to the listening trio, he would explain as much as he could at a later date, though now he wanted to talk privately with Ritsuko.

Misato said how ten minutes later Ritsuko had come out looking even more surprised then just after her blackout.

As Misato said this to Shinji and Rei, Ritsuko shot her a dirty look, and Misato quickly decided to move on. She continued, saying that Fuyuzuki had gone back in alone, only reappearing shortly before Shinji and Rei arrived (security informing Gendo of their imminent arrival). Also, that while Shinji and Rei were inside Fuyuzuki had informed Misato and Ritsuko that at exactly 4pm they were to go and organise a stage 2 general alert and prepare to repulse an imminent attack by hostile (human) forces. Shinji looked at a clock on the wall, 10min to go.

Confused and worried about this sudden revelation Shinji asked why. Misato replied that it would be exactly 10 minutes after Gendo made his plea to the Council about SEELES true intention, he knew there were SEELE spies in NERV and he did not want to give them any chance of a warning.

Shinji looked up at his father's office door, right now at this very second the continuation of the human species hung in the balance, and it was in the hands of a man who had been willing to destroy it only a few hours earlier. 'No man better' Shinji thought to himself, an almost evil smile appearing on his face.

Misato, not noticing the smile, continued to say that the Evas were being prepared for combat and that the pilots were to remain on stand-by in the cage, and to expect occasional briefings on different scenarios. Shinji nodded, the briefing was over and there was an awkward pause as all four stood there, none really knowing what to do. Shinji didn't want to start a scene, though he knew it may well be the last time that he saw the two people who stood in front of him. His hand went automatically to his head as he thought of what to say and suddenly it struck him.

"Dr Ritsuko, Commander Misato… Uh… I just want to say it has been an honour to work with you" he gave Misato a warm look. Ritsuko, a little surprised, recovered quickly to give Shinji a warm smile "Thank you Shinji" She said, turning to Rei. "Rei, Shinji, I wish you both the best of luck"

Misato looked on, her officer face cracking slightly, "When this is over we will all have to go out and celebrate!" she said in her normal joyous voice and with that they all nodded, smiling at each other. Shinji took a last look at Ritsuko and his guardian, taking great effort to stay composed.

"We will see each other then" Shinji said, and with that he turned and left. Rei followed, after a nod to each superior. They walked back down to the changing rooms, putting on their plug suits for the second time today. Rei joined Shinji in the male change room, both sitting down on the long couch, neither really sure what to do, neither particularly in the mood to talk. Shinji, hit on an idea and went to get his STAD player. Sitting back down he offered one earpiece to Rei, who accepted, leaning back he clicked on his favourite tracks. Rei, listening, decided to lie down long-ways on the sofa, placing her head on Shinjis lap. Shinji lent back, and both closed their eyes to enjoy the music as the silent alarms started to go off around them once more, it was 4pm. Both were seeing the red flashing lights through their eyelids but neither opening their eyes.

Up in the main command centre Misato and Ritsuko had called in the senior commanders for an emergency meeting. Misato started by explaining that NERV had been betrayed by SEELE, who even now were most likely mobilising to launch an all out offensive to destroy the complex and all the personnel. Naturally it took a couple of minutes for everyone in the meeting to calm down, now that the fight with the angels appeared to be over this was the last thing they were expecting. A senior analyst demanded to know the source of the information. Misato lied and said that the information had been provided by a spy loyal to NERV. This appeared to satisfy the analyst for now, so Misato continued saying that the commander was now attempting to get military intervention to save them. The attack could commence at any time, evacuation was no longer an option, as the aim of the attack was the complete elimination of NERV personnel. Shocked at this brutal revelation the room fell quite, after a while a senior tactician pointed out that they could never withstand a full assault. In a disgusted tone he continued, saying that NERVs defences had been designed to fight Angels, not invading armies. Misato continued, saying that she knew this and their only hope was to hold out until military support arrived, but they still had some very powerful tricks up their sleeves and now that they knew they were coming, they were going to give them hell! Everyone in the room was less then convinced, the fear amongst them was evident. Misato tried to rally the beleaguered staff, saying the commander was even now in communication with top UN and JSDA staff with a single aim, to save NERV, the situation they found themselves in was unfortunate but now unavoidable. She continued, saying that all they could do now was act for their own survival, time was of the essence and if they acted now they would have a chance to get out of this, and then leave NERV if they wanted. Misatos small speech did not have the desired effect, everyone was still dejected at the sudden prospect of fighting for their lives. The speech however did bring them back into the present, they had to act, quite simply, so one after the other they all nodded in grim determination, not really having a choice. Misato, satisfied with the response, started too draw up base defences. The orders were issued and the plans were quickly set in motion, where possible personnel were being issued with whatever weaponry was available, while others created impromptu weapons and booby traps. A plan was drawn up for a sequentially diminishing zone of defence to hopefully buy NERV the largest amount of time. NERV aircraft were immediately dispatched to scout the area, it only took a short time for them to report back, pockets of troops and armour were mobilising to the North, South and East. Apparently there was a lot of activity, 2 observers being shot down almost immediately, without prior warning. The information was transmitted to Gendo in the communications room.

"Well that's it then, the games afoot" Misato said to herself, now in the control room.

Only moments earlier Gendo and Fuyuzuki had been facing a very angry committee. Sitting in a darkened room the two NERV Commanders were surrounded by a half circle of large communication screens. As expected the council had reacted angrily, not believing Gendos initial claims of SEELE'S conspiracy. Relative order was not restored for about three minutes, though during this time many had started to review the information Gendo had sent through initially. Some of the council members were implicated, and as Gendo had hoped some of them had panicked, reacted without consideration. Some implicated members links had simply shut down immediately.

For Gendo it was like watching a complex soap opera, he could see that many members were suddenly interrupted from behind, getting urgent reports about their communications system coming under electronic attack, some members dropping off completely, their links severed. Gendo smiled to himself, SEELE had panicked, he could not have asked for a better reaction. These new events had effectively confirmed SEELEs undesirable intentions to the honest individuals of the meeting. The situation started to deteriorate somewhat with the remaining honest members receiving urgent reports and having to excusing themselves. Now the officials faces were more of ones of concern and confusion then anger. SEELE had obviously decided upon an all or nothing approach, attacking the communications network as soon as Gendo had made his accusations. Key lines remained open however, as Gendo had indicated to Ritsuko which critical lines were to be guarded by the Magi.

From dealing with issues half a world away the connected officials found themselves suddenly facing direct emergencies at home. One after another the last participants decided to report back later, until finally the only ones left where the defence minister of Japan and the United Nations Asian Commander, who happened to be one of the people implicated in Gendos report. The room suddenly fell quiet, a stark contrast to the combination of outcries and exasperation just moments before. The defence minister calmly brought out a second document and placed it next to Gendos report on the table, all could see it in front of him, this document was significantly thicker and looked better prepared then the NERV document.

"Your report makes interesting reading Commander Ikari… especially considering the other documentation I have received only a few days earlier." he said eyeing the United Nations official.

"It would appear from _this_ documentation" said the Defence Minister, indicating the SEELE documentation. "that you alone are responsible for this conspiracy and not the SEELE organisation. Which includes… I remember seeing, members of such high importance as yourself Minister" The defence minister continued, indicating the regional U.N Commander. The U.N Commander gave the defence minister another incredulous look.

"We have detected large concentrations of UN controlled JSDF special forces surrounding our installation" stated Gendo calmly "I deduce from this that the report states the only way to counter my mad plans" he paused for effect." Is to launch a swift surprise attack, capturing this facility" he finished up. Again a pause, finally the U.N commander spoke.

"Minister, this is obviously a desperate last ditch effort by Ikari to save his own neck , he will not be given any more time to protect his sick interests."

And with that he picked up the phone.

"I would just like to say at this time that I am quite willing to accept the immediate temporary administration of all of NERVS activities by a civilian body during any investigation, as long as it does not contain any individuals on the lists that I have just provided. In fact I would ask that you handle the investigation personally Minister, if you look at the documentation I have sent over, you have that statement in writing" Gendo finished, he smiled broadly, looking back at the U.N commander, who scolded.

"Commander" The defence minister said to the U.N official. "I would ask that any immediate action be postponed while this new information is processed."

"What!" exploded the U.N commander "Are you crazy! He can not be allowed to have any more time! The situation is critical! We must act now!"

He slammed his free hand onto the desk.

Staying calm the minister spoke. "Given what I have just observed in this meeting, I am sure of only one thing, I can no longer distinguish the truth from the lies. And until I do, no more action is to be taken by either party, am I clear Commanders, this is still my country to control."

Gendo nodded, a smirk visible on his face. The U.N Commander was visibly annoyed, almost shaking with rage, veins clearly visible on his forehead.

"Bah!" he coughed, slamming down the phone.

"Now if you would both excuse me, I have much to investigate" said the Defence Minister, and with that his line clicked off. For a second there was only the two of them, but The U.N commander gave a nod to someone off screen and suddenly the usual series of SELLE audio-only screens appeared, one after the other, the U.N commanders screen also turning to black audio.

"Ahhh Gendo." said voice number one. "You are full of surprises… it must give you great pleasure to know what discomfort you have given us."

His voice was even, with a sinister overtone.

"You do realise what you are attempting is folly?" said Gendo, returning to his classic pose, but with only one hands in front of his face, due to the sling.

"Even if you do succeed, your efforts will amount to nothing more then an abortion of the human race." said Gendo, calmly.

"You dare to question that which is written down! This is humanities way forward! Our evolutionary path!" interrupted voice 4.

"Mans evolution is not to control the forces of God, but to control himself" said Gendo evenly. "I myself have only recently become aware of this."

"No matter!" interrupted voice 1.

"Your time is at an end Gendo Ikari, there is no need for us to hide in the shadows any longer, we will take what we need from you, and complete what is written" said voice one, angrily. "It is to late for you Gendo Ikari"

And with that voice-ones connection clicked off, soon followed by every other connection. Fuyuzuki and Gendo were left to ponder in a silent room.

"Indeed" said Gendo.

Almost as if to confirm SEELE's threats the alarm bells sounded in the control room, the Magi were under attack. Gendo and Fuyuzuki entered the command centre to take their usual overseer positions. NERV had been preparing for this, Ritsuko spending the last couple of minutes writing defence programs. The attack was halted almost immediately, with two of the attacking Magi going down themselves thanks to some clever program packages Ritsuko had sent moments before. The attack on the system failed miserably, the surviving attacking Magi began to systematically cut off all connections NERV had to the outside world. Unable to do anything outside the virtual world of the 666 firewall Misato and Ritsuko simply watched as all the connection broke apart on the screen in front of them.

"Major." Gendo called from above. Misato and Ritsuko turned in surprise, having not heard the commander come in over the noise.

"Our salvation is not yet assured, it is imperative to our survival that communication with the Japanese government be maintained as long as possible."

Misato looked at Ritsuko.

"Its impossible to stay connected via landline, the other Magi are controlling the entire system! Nothing is coming in or going out, all normal lines of communications are impossible" Ritsuko said, her tone stressed due to the hectic activity.

"Then we will have to use the unusual" replied Gendo still calm.

"A direct connection with a private number via satellite will be adequate"

"We won't be able to hold on to any surface outposts for long once the fighting starts" interrupted Misato.

"That would normally be correct Major" said Gendo, continuing he said "however we only require a small site, and it will be defended by all effective surface units, including our air resources."

Misato was about to object to this tactically dangerous ploy, when he suddenly added worse.

"Including both Evangelions" added Gendo.

"Commander!" objected Misato loudly.

"You may use the resources as you see fit Major, but whatever your plans, ultimately that outpost must hold for as long as possible" continued Gendo with some force in his voice. Misato gave him a doubtful look, anger apparent in her expression.

"This is not a suicide mission Major, I expect you to withdraw the forces after the situation becomes hopeless, select an outpost next to a deployment shaft." said Gendo calmly. Misato calmed down a bit.

"If we can not coordinate our reinforcements efforts when they arrive their presence may well be useless" stated Gendo.

Misato looked at him for a short while, he stayed still, one hand in front of his mouth.

"Yes commander" Misato finally said, and walked to the control table to quickly draw up new plans. Reports were already coming in of engagements at the forward defence posts. The engagements were short, with quick exchanges between the NERV defences and the U.N Commanders forces. Before long the posts were overrun, though the withdrawal was orderly and the progress of the U.N forces was hampered due to the targeting of transport infrastructure. Slowly but surely the outlying camera and sensor feeds began to drop off, one by one.

Misato waited for a while before she got a clearer picture of the enemies plan off attack. Commanding skilfully she watched the battle unfold, waiting for the perfect time to deploy her trump card. Satisfied that most pieces were now in play she gave instructions for Shinji and Rei to deploy immediately, and to be briefed on route.

Authors note:

Well that went better then expected, a tough chapter to write. Just a quick note on the AT field interaction; The reaction not only has to do with the number of AT fields in contact with each other, but how they interact, one field must be completely enveloped by two others for the 'reaction' to work, sort of a volumetric trinity thing. Plus the intent, and the origin of the entity creating the AT fields also plays a part, but that will come out later… Next kick ass combat!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 1: Spring Thaw**

I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion, its just a fan-fiction, read and enjoy.

Some feedback to my reviewers: (thanks!)

Blackangel32076: Thanks for the complement, I have tried hard to develop the relationships naturally, plenty of twists and turns left, hope you like it.

Dennisud: I spent a long time on Gendos dynamics, your recognition is appreciated. As for the question on Asuka that will be answered this chapter.

**1.4 Deja-vu**

Authors note:

Time for some action! The continued plot and character developments should keep this section fun and interesting!

Down in the change rooms a NERV staff member came racing in to inform Shinji and Rei of their deployment. Taking off the headphones they nodded, both quickly running off towards the holding pens. Just before they split up to go to their respective Evas, Shinji stopped Rei by grabbing her hand, turning her towards him and giving her a quick hug.

"Good luck Ayanami" he said, holding her shoulders.

"I will see you soon" she replied with a smile, and with that the two parted. Shinji's entry plug descended into unit 01, and soon he was surrounded by the operational screens he was used to. Shinji, sitting in the cockpit of his Eva, looked down to see Rei's and Misato's faces appeared on the left of his screen, and a tactical map appear in front of him. Shinji was momentarily distracted, the sounds of combat could be heard in the distance, even from this deep underground. On the tactical map Shinji could see a lot of red units shown as triangles slowly pushing back the much smaller number of blue units still left on the screen. The northern battlefront was almost at NERV HQ with inroads into the underground passages already being made. The western fronts were pulling back steadily, heading back to what looked to be a small hill just west of NERV HQ, isolated in the mountains. The southern front looked bad, the largest grouping of NERV forces that were still on the surface had been trapped in a small town nestled in a ridge of a valley. Surrounding U.N forces were slowly moving in, they were only a few 100m from a NERV entry point on the other side of the Valley. But judging by the map this was across open terrain, and U.N heavy units were on a nearby hill covering the clearing.

"Shinji, Rei" came the voice of Misato.

"Yes Misato." replied Shinji, looking up from his tactical map.

"Listen up, here is the plan." she said serious and direct. "Firstly we are going to launch a counter attack on our southern flank to save our trapped forces there. And hopefully slow those U.N Forces down."

The appropriate prompts and Icons appeared on the tactical screen.

"Rei you will provide covering fire from position point A"

A dot appeared on a ridge just north of the trapped forces.

"Your priority is to keep the skies free for Shinji and our forces" continued Misato, Rei nodded

"Shinji you are to provide close support for our men on the ground, and I also need you to knock out some bridges and roads leading into the valley. You will be given air cover by our remaining aircraft, so Rei be careful at what your shooting at."

Both pilots nodded again.

"This is a surprise attack and you will both be exposed, be careful of your cables, they will target that as soon as you appear, hopefully this will all be over in ten or so minutes, any questions?" Misato finished up, crossing her arms, she waited for any questions, using the time to look down at the map. Both pilots nodded and Misato wasted no more time, turning to Ritsuko she shouted. "Deploy!"

The two Evangelions shot up from their holding pens, speeding off through the maze of tunnels to their first deployment. On the way Misato continued the brief. Shinji ignoring the scenery flying by his Eva to concentrate on the tactical information. Misato said that after they were finished with their objectives, they were to re-enter the access point and close it behind them. They were then to make their way across to access shaft 4 redeploying to defend communication centre 4.6, until the situation became hopeless, or new orders were given. Shinji and Rei were quickly briefed on their weapons and objectives and before they knew it their sliding rails shot out of the tunnel into a small holding area. Small, in terms that it barely contained the standing Evangelions, however given their size, the actual excavation itself was massive, the opening doors at one end appeared, from the outside, like the entire side of the hill was moving. The pilots' actual location was immediately north of the combat area, about ten kilometres away. The two Evas moved out quickly, grabbing their umbilical cords and plugging themselves in. Weapons casing springing up from either side of the entry chamber giving both Eva pilots assault rifles, Shinji also got a multiple rocket launcher and Rei a sniper rifle.

Down in the control room Misato was fidgeting, eying the camera that showed both units plugging-in their umbilical cords.

"Are you seriously telling me we had to watch that thing eat the angel's S2 engine, and now we can't even get power from it?" Misato asked in an annoyed tone.

"I told you already, it wasn't exactly a controlled installation." replied Ritsuko, watching her screens carefully. "Who knows, maybe when the Eva wants it can take power from it, but nothing we have done so far shows we can control it" she continued.

"I sware I feel sometimes that the Eva's are fighting us harder then the angles used to." said Misato darkly.

"Anyway the commander gave specific instructions not to try and activate the S2 engine or the dummy plug in unit 01" offered Maya, from next to Ritsuko.

"At least there's something we can all agree on" replied Misato. "I have more faith in the commander already" she added, Ritsuko smiling at her friend's last comment.

Back outside both Eva's picked up their weapons, one in each hand, Unit 01 turning to face Rei, nodding in a silent well wish. Turning back he scanned the horizon, Shinji's expression turned to one of grim determination, and he started to run towards the battle, still far off.

Rei's Eva, unit 00, turned, quickly scaling the hill they had just emerged from. Reaching the top she placed the assault rifle down beside her. Leaning down she positioned herself to steady the sniper rifle on the hill in a half-prone position. Preparing herself she sighted-up, scanning the horizon she could see Shinji running down the valley, umbilical cord trailing behind.

"Rei our fighters are coming overhead to protect Shinjis cable, be careful what you fire at" came Misato voice, suddenly over the intercom.

"Yes Ma'm" said Rei, and she started to scan for targets.

Just then 5 NERV fighting aircraft screamed low over Rei's Eva, heading fast after Shinji who was kneeling behind a ridge in a bend of the valley.

Taking a glimpse down at the combat area, Shinji saw a decidedly one sided affair, The small town he had seen on his tactical map was in ruins, crumbling under a withering fire of U.N armour and heavy weapons, only occasionally was there a shot returned. U.N infantry were starting to move in, firing at anything that moved.

"So, not being gracious with you superior firepower are we?" said Shinji through clenched teeth, his hands clenching and unclenching by his side for the first time since his battle with Kaworu. Through his displays he could see multiple dead bodies laying on the road into town, many NERV personnel, but also some civilians.

"You bastards!" spat Shinji, his hands finally clenching into a fist. Using the attached strap Shinji placed the rocket launcher over his shoulder and grabbed the assault riffle with both hands, springing into action.

The Eva was an awesome sight as it raced around the corner, massive plumes of water and earth shot up from its feet as it raced through the rice paddies, gun raised. Shinji aimed at a row of tanks that had formed to bombard the town. He fired a sustained burst, and even though the shots had not been properly aimed the sheer volume and size of the rounds fired tore the entire hillside to pieces, those vehicles not being hit directly were flung around by the explosions like toys.

The surviving armour scurried in every direction, their gunners now firing madly at the approaching Eva. Shinji closed on the town quickly ignoring the incoming fire, his cable was after all still behind him. Stopping next to the town he took aim at some more armoured concentrations just behind the next bend. All U.N forces were scattering before him, firing as they went. Shinji's second burst was as deadly as the first, switching to 3 burst mode Shinji started to fire at individual units as well as hurry the fleeing infantry on, Finally the rifle went click and he knew it was empty. He placed the gun down next to the town, creating a sort of barrier for the NERV personnel and remaining civilians in the town to make it to the access shaft.

Having received Misato's orders over their own communications links the surviving units, the number of which was a surprise to Shinji given the towns level of destruction, started to move across the clearing to the access shaft, Unit 01 effectively shielding them from a lot of the heavy fire. Misato ordered the planes to strafe the opposite hill to protect the fleeing troops as Shinji deployed his AT field to deflect a wider angle of fire. The U.N Forces were still in disarray though their level of fire was still up, the opposite hill was effectively silenced by the air run as massive explosions ran along the length of the hill.

Misato gave Shinji orders to move on to his next objectives. Shinji turned to see that most of the people had already evacuated, the last remaining units & civilians just reaching the access shaft, the last person in waving up at Shinji before closing the hatch behind him.

Lowering his AT field he made his way up to the opposite ridge taking the rocket launcher off of his back as he did. The remaining U.N infantry scrambled to get out of the way as the massive Eva's hands and feet made their way up the hillside. Reaching the top the Eva stood up to observe its surroundings, from his perch Shinji could see the three major roads that lead into the mountainous area of Nerve HQ. As there were many valleys and rivers all three routs had bridges and tunnels on their way into the mountains.

The U.N forces further back, informed of their colleague's fate just up the valley, were prepared for the Eva's appearance. They had spread themselves evenly over the entire area, and awaited the arrival of the Eva, commenced a withering fire on site. The units targeted the rocket launcher, the ground around the Eva's Feet and the Eva's head with high explosive rounds. Inside the cockpit of unit 01 Shinji's world turned bright orange, as he used his hands to shield the rocket launcher and cable, Eva 01 armour managed to absorb the initial barrage. Shinji waited for a lull in the fire before bringing the rocket launcher up to his shoulder, aiming quickly he fired two bursts at a bridge and tunnel, both located about three kilometres away. Though the shot was hurried the explosive power of the rocket was enough to effectively demolish both targets, blocking off two roads. Shinji turned to target the third objective, a large bridge about 4km away. However just before he could line up the target and pull the trigger the UN heavy Rocket launchers all simultaneously targeted the ground at Shinji's feet, the impact of the massive barrage effectively disintegrating part of the hill. Shinji gave out a yell as his Eva lost balance, falling awkwardly into the valley just adjacent of the one he had been fighting from, Power cable being pulled down behind him.

Misato and Rei let out similar gasps of horror as Shinji's Eva disappeared into a large cloud of dust. Rei reacted quickly, grabbing the assault riffle and standing up. To far away to close the distance Rei quickly set about calculating the trajectory for an effective bombardment.

Seeing what Rei was planning, from her observation of her on-board system, Misato instinctively ordered the protecting fighters to fall back.

Rei, hearing the command to the fighters, completed her calculations and aimed the rifle into the air. Firing off one continuous burst, the shots streaked into the sky, arcing gracefully before started their downward journey onto the battlefield.

The U.N forces were re-positioning themselves to fire on the downed Eva's cable when Rei's fire came in. Rei's bombardment impacted, knocking out a couple of units but more importantly throwing massive amount of dust and dabree into the air, and generally placing the U.N units under stress and confusion. The situation calmed down a bit from the massive impact only moments before, both sides trying to recover from their respective bad situations. Surrounded by dust, the view from Shinji's Eva was significantly quieter then moments before. Rei's and Misato's screen came back on-line in Shinji's Eva.

"Are you O.K Shinji?" asked Rei concerned.

"Yah no problem" said Shinji. Eva 01 slowly got back up, the dust cloud still thick around it. Shinji looked around, attempting to pear through the thick smoke and dust. Spotting the rocked launcher laying a little way off. He walked over to pick it up.

"You'll have to go up the next rise Shinji, the slope you were just on is now too unstable" came Misato's voice over the intercom.

"O.K" said Shinji, making his way up the next rise.

"Where is their air-power?" asked Shinji on his way up, dust still thick around him.

"I don't know" said Misato a little concerned, she had expected them much earlier. Worried she glanced over the tactical map. The situation was looking bad enough with the enemy units that were already there, but Misato knew there still was a large part of the enemy air force they had not committed yet. Shinji made his way up the hill, his Eva emerging at the top. The top half of his Eva managed to break through the dust cloud, which was now seemingly just hovering, relatively stationary. Bringing the rocket launcher to bare he lined up the final bridge, pulling the trigger he confidently fired off one round, the projectile streaked off to its target. Taking a full 5 seconds to reach the target, the rocket exploded, obliterating it utterly.

"Well done" came Misato voice over Shinji's comm "That will stall the southern front for some time. Shinji make your way back to the shaft, we have to get the two of you over to the communications centre."

Shinji turned to head back when he suddenly froze. From his vantage point perched on top of the hill he could see a very large group of aircraft moving in to cut off his line of retreat.

"The cable" side Misato and Shinji simultaneously. Shinji was now a long way from the entrance. From where he was he could just see unit 00 quite far off in the distance. Shinji reacted quickly, lifting the rocket launcher he fired off the last two rounds back down the valley, impacting next to his cable and throwing massive amounts of dust, dirt and smoke into the air. Dropping the empty launcher, he dove back into the dust cloud, sliding back down the valley sides.

"Retract cable!" yelled Ritsuko in the control room. Misato drew out the intercept point of the U.N fighters on the map.

"All air units move to protect the cable at points E7 on your grid! Hold out as long as you can!" she commanded.

"Yes Ma'm" came the reply. The NERV aircraft shot off from their holding position. They crossed the rise just as the U.N fighters crossed the opposite rise. Due to its quick retraction, the Eva's cable could be seen moving around erratically on the valley floor. Both sides opened fire on each other, all planes manoeuvring frantically to avoid each others volleys, countermeasures filled the air as the sky filled with missiles and bullets. Two NERV aircraft fell soon after the opening engagement the other three manoeuvring frantically to the sides. Two U.N planes were also hit, a third suddenly exploded. Shocked, the U.N pilots looked up to see the smoke trail of a tracer, following it back they could just make out the prone figure of unit 00 behind the snipper riffle. Another aircraft exploded and the survivors dove into the valley to take cover. The three NERV aircraft were now in full retreat backing off frantically down the valley. Suddenly Shinji's voice came over the pilot's intercom, telling them to retreat to the communications centre immediately.

Gratefully, and not even waiting for Misato's approval, the NERV pilots turned their aircraft and darted over the hills. A following U.N craft being brought down by Rei. The remaining U.N aircraft in the valley tried to right themselves from their sudden dive and struggled to line themselves up for a shot at the thrashing cable. Before they could fire however Shinji appeared from the dust cloud, they could see the massive form of his Eva sprinting down the valley, retracting cable in one hand. The cable was almost taut as he was matching speed with the retreating length. Still running Shinji gave the cable a flick, sending a massive kink travelling down its moving length, then he followed up by a massive jerk to one side. The kink travelled fast down the cables length reaching the UN forces just as they opened fire, the cable actually hit one of the aircraft while the others swerved violently to avoid the thrashing mass. This was followed by the massive jerk in the line which wiped it violently into the hillside, the U.N aircraft were manoeuvring frantically to avoid it, not wanting to get above the valley for fear of Rei's sniping. Though the sight of the Massive Eva bearing down on them fast made the thought of Rei's firing less threatening. All turned to retreat, the first U.N aircraft back above the Valley being brought down by the deadly fire of Rei, Another aircraft was too slow, being caught by Shinji and flung into the valley floor. The remaining aircraft dashed over and away. Shinji started to clamber up the valley wall, attempting to get back to the valley he had started in. He managed to make it over, getting his first clear view of the entrance, though it was still a minute or two away.

Red lights appeared on Misato's screen and she was prompted to 3 small triangles coming in from the west.

"Rei!" yelled Misato "get back to the entrance of the shaft and raise your AT field! They're going to try and block it off before Shinji gets back!"

Rei sprung into action, sliding down the side of the hill roughly.

Misato could see on her screen that the bombers had released their massive missiles and had turned away, anxiously she looked on.

Rei continued to slide down the hill coming to rest just near the entrance, she quickly ran in front of it, bringing the two hands of her Eva together to raise her AT field. The hexagonal field came up just as the three missiles cleared the last rise and bore down on the entrance.

Shinji, running, could see all this ahead of him and had to shield his eyes from the light of the impact. The simultaneous explosion off all three missiles was massive, Rei straining to hold her position.

The intense light passed, opening her eyes Rei could see that all of the ground in front and around Eva 00 was massively scared, Shinji's cable now being well and truly cut. A massive gully had been formed in front of the entrance.

Shinji, seeing this, sped up. Reaching the significantly sized gully he leaped over the final obstacle, flying gracefully through the air. There was however no place to land, unit 00 occupied the solid ground in front of the entrance and there was no room for anyone ells. Still flying Shinji flung is arms wide, grabbing hold of Rei before violently crashing into her. Unit 01's momentum carried the two of them tumbling into the entrance chamber, then onwards down the shaft. Behind the two rolling Eva's another missile slammed into the top of the entrance chamber, collapsing it, and effectively sealing the entrance behind them. The two Eva's slid some ways down the shaft before finally coming to a stop, Unit 01 lying awkwardly on top of Unit 00.

Both pilots lay there, panting for a second, their only distraction being the red light of the battery countdown sequence, which had started as soon as both their cables were cut. Shinji and Rei looked at each other for a second. Shinji gave Rei a weak grin, suddenly Misato reappeared on screen, she did not look happy.

"You'll have enough time for that later you two. Now make your way back down the shaft to transit point D3, there you will find extra battery packs, that should give you enough power to get to the communications centre. You'll have to manually make your way through cross shaft 17 to get there, but once there you can re-plug in." Misato finished. Shinji gave Rei a wink and helped her Eva up into a crouching position.

"Lets go my guardian angel" said Shinji. Rei gave him a smile and both made their way down the shaft.

Meanwhile in the control room things were not looking so good. The northern front had collapsed and U.N forces controlled most of the surface of the geo-front, and were making in-rows onto the catacombs.

"It's a good thing we put Asuka and unit 02 in the bottom of the lake," said Ritsuko, she could see that enemy commandos had broke into the holding pens.

"Ya" Replied Misato, looking across at a screen showing Asuka huddled in her entry plug. The U.N forces in the geo-front however had spotted the hiding Eva, and missile launchers trained their turrets, launching a volley of depth chargers into the lake.

The canisters floated down softly, impacting violently around the still Eva. Inside the sunken unit 02, Asuka cringed at the shock waves.

Inside Eva unit 02 only the low rumbling of the depth charges could be heard. Amidst the rumbling of the depth charges however a very quiet voice was audible.

"I don't want to die" said Asuka, quietly but quickly.

"I don't want to die" again it could be heard.

"I don't want to die"

More depth charges impacted on the Eva's surface

"I don't want to die" came the louder call.

"I don't want to die!" Asuka repeated.

High above Tokyo 3 a high altitude bomber glimmered in the sun. Flying almost effortlessly at this altitude the giant plane appeared to lazily open its bomb-bay.

From far below a small dot could be seen being released from the speck that was the bomber, the bomb making its way downwards, falling gracefully without a sound towards the surface.

From far away it was an awesome sight, the N2 mine impacted, making a light brighter then the sun. Back inside NERV, everyone held on as the ground shook and trembled.

Explosion finally over it could be seen that the N2 mine had torn a perfect circle into the roof of the geo-front, exposing it to the outside world for the first time. Even before anyone had time to recover from the initial shock of the now open roof a massive missile barrage entered in through the newly opened hole, again causing the earth to shake with the shear volume of explosions.

Back in unit 02 all this activity had been heard as continuous rumbling, having repeated her previous lines through the ordeal, Asuka finished up by raising her head, eyes defiant, to scream out one more time.

"I don't want to die!"

Immediately after Asuka's triumphant call to the world, Eva unit 02 went fully active.

Back in the control room all were still coming to grips with the last barrage when they noticed that unit 02 had gone active. They watched in amazement as unit 02 rose from the lake, a NERVE destroyer lifted above its head. Misato cringed as she saw a missile barrage come in and impact on the destroyer. The NERV staff watched as unit 02 threw the entire destroyer at the shore, it landing on the offending missile launchers. Huge explosions rocked the shoreline. Asuka, on an adrenalins high, was non responsive to Misato's calls, yelling to herself at the top of her lungs, as UN aircraft came in to engage the new threat.

Asuka appeared to be going berserk, deploying her AT field and engaging the aircraft in hand to hand combat, impressively taking them all out with her wild attacking.

In the command room Gendo listened to her swear in German, watching on the screen as she tore apart her attackers. She wasn't however paying attention to the overall tactical picture, and soon the ground forces managed to cut her umbilical power cord. The Eva froze for a few seconds, then, looked up.

Misato finally looked at the tactical control map, not having been able to look down in all the excitement. Her mouth dropped.

"Commander!" she yelled, not believing her eyes.

"There are… 12….. Eva's" she finally stated. Fear and disbelief causing her to stutter "Circling unit two" she finished, still sounding totally shocked.

"Unit 02 only has 4 minutes of power left!" Ritsuko shouted, bringing Misato back to her senses. Commander Ikari however, was not fazed, he was as cool as always.

"Tell unit 00 to go on to the command centre, unit 01 is to return to support Asuka" he said evenly.

"But that's still 12 against 2" Misato protested.

"Do you not have faith in our pilots" asked Gendo evenly. Misato gave him a scowl, turning back to the control panels.

Misato immediately relayed the information to Shinji and Rei. Who were both shocked to hear the news.

"Asuka's O.K.?" asked Shinji, shock and happiness in his voice.

"She soon won't be if you don't get back here" came Misato's serious reply "She's lost her umbilical cord, she only has 4 minutes left". Shinji looked up at Rei who was ahead of him, unwilling to leave her, but anxious to go.

"I will be fine, she needs you" said Rei, giving him a reassuring smile. Shinji and his Eva nodded, and with that he released his grip and started to slide back down the access shaft, back down to the geo-front.

They had almost been at the entry point and Rei entered the underground holding area next to the above ground communications centre. Grabbing a rifle and plugging herself in, she emerged from the access shaft just under the communications centre.

The scene was quite simply amazing, NERV forces had concentrated on this one hill, pulling together a surprising amount of heavy weaponry and armour. The initial attacks had been totally repulsed but now with the entire front secured the U.N had brought in a lot of heavy weaponry into this remote location. There was an intense firefight going on, with tracers flying in all conceivable directions. The last NERV line of defence was seriously battered and the embattled troops gave a cheer at the sight of the Eva. The communications station had not been directly targeted but looked pretty battered anyway, a number of temporary communications units were stationed around the hill, the engineers trying frantically to maintain a line of communication. The U.N attack faltered at the sight of the Eva and fire was redirected at the large robot. Rei, her expression turning to grim determination, stepped out into the fray.

Meanwhile back down in the geo-front, Asuka calculated exactly how much time she had to kill each of the enemy Evangelions. The 12 Evangelions had landed, their wings folding together and the glider packs disengaged from their backs, they were slightly smaller then the NERV Evas. Not appearing to be armoured, they looked more like massive animals then robots, a mark like a large hideous smile on their longish heads, making them look like decidedly unpleasant creatures. By their deliberate movements it was quickly apparent that these units were unmanned, the stiff clinical nature of the dummy plug showing through, each one carried a large double bladed weapon shining menacingly in the sun.

Asuka did not waste any time, she sprang into action, screaming obscenities as she raced around tearing the attacking unmanned Evangelions (UM Evas) apart. Her manoeuvres were awe inspiring as she utilised all of her impressive combat skills to completely outclass her opponents. They started dropping like flies, number five down. Then six. Then seven! She closed on another group, impaling one UM unit with its own weapon, twenty five seconds left, she closed on the last two, taking one apart with a few swift moves, and finished with a decisive blow to impale the last standing unit, just as her power failed.

Unit 02 shutting down around her, Asuka physically slumped in her seat, exhausted with her efforts, but still a massive smile on her face.

"I didn't even need your help Shinji." she said in a somewhat mocking tone.

Back in the command centre, all were still marvelling at her success when suddenly Ritsuko shouted out.

"Their still moving!" she exclaimed.

Sure enough, all around Asuka the "corpses" of the slain UM Evas began to move, seemingly magically healing themselves of their sickening wounds. The more heavily injured ones, Misato observing from the command centre, taking considerably longer.

"What!" shouted Asuka. " What's going on, this isn't fair!"

There was obvious fear in her voice, eyes wide with disbelief she watched as one of the Evas completed healing itself. Standing up slowly it turned to face Asuka, smiling menacingly. Calmly, it started to walk towards her.

"Damn it Shinji, where are you when I need you!" Asuka yelled out, slamming her fists on her controls and hanging her head. The re-configured UM unit closed in, piking up a fallen weapon on the way towards unit 02. Moving up it stopped directly in front of her, slowly raising its large black bladed weapon. Asuka screamed in rage as it swang back and brought the weapon down. Seemingly in slow motion it swung down elegantly, just before the blade struck however it itself was hit multiple times by projectiles ,forcing it from its deadly direction, and just missing unit 02. Asuka swung her head around to her right. Off in the distance Asuka could see unit 01 racing across the geo-front, rifle in one arm and extra battery pack and umbilical cord being held in the other.

Shinji fired another burst, the rounds impacting in the side of the attacking Eva. Its soft body being torn apart by the high explosive rounds, it stumbled away from unit 02 falling down heavily.

"Shinji!" yelled Asuka in delight. She was interrupted by a proximity warning, three other enemy Evas had regenerated and were closing on her, fast. Looking down again she realised she wasn't saved yet.

"Hurry up already!" she yelled into the consol.

"Yah Yah" replied the angry voice of Shinji. He was having difficulty carrying the batteries and rifle, as well as dragging the umbilical cord along the ground. During any other moment it may have appeared comical, Shinji occasionally tripped and scampered along the ground, firing awkwardly on the closing UM Evas.

The enemy UM Evas however were now aware of his presence, and dodged the fire, closed in on unit 02. Shinji heard Asuka's unease over the comms link. Letting out a loud shout in determination Eva unit 01 speed up even faster, the dragging cable decimating the terrain behind him and throwing up a massive dust cloud. Racing at an unbelievable speed Shinji was almost up to Asuka, dropping the cable and batteries he threw his Eva into the air. Asuka flinched as Shinji's Eva came flying at her feet first. Shinji, using his now free hand to push off of unit 02's shoulder, barely cleared the stationary unit, Unit 01 buried its heel in the face of an UM unit just beyond Asuka's Eva. The momentum of his Eva's mass being transferred, he landed on the spot while the enemy Eva flew backwards. Landing on both feet Shinji brought his gun around in a wide ark, butt first, hitting another Eva in the side of the head. Swinging his gun back around and into a firing position he fired on the stumbling Eva, tearing its soft body apart.

"Behind you!" screamed Asuka. Shinji turned just in time to raise his gun, catching the plunging blade of the third attacking Eva. The blade went half through his weapon, sparks flying as the metal twisted. The rifle held however and a furious Shinji twisted the gun, dragging the base of the Evas weapon into the ground. Releasing one hand he snatched at the arm of the enemy UM Eva then freed his other to land a heavy hit into the head of the creature. Stunned the creature released its grip on the giant blade, and stumbled back. Using its confusion Shinji stepped forward, grabbing hold of the faltering enemy and using his weight to swing the creature around and throw the entire UM unit through the air at the regenerating form of yet another enemy Eva. A massive amount of debris was thrown up and Shinji had time to slump a little to gain his breath, his heart beating at a stupendous rate.

"Nice moves third child" came a sudden sarcastic, but also joyous, voice of Asuka over the intercom.

"But if you wouldn't mind…. I don't like being helpless if you haven't noticed" she said with a smile. Shinji, catching his breath, managed to give her a wry smile between the gasps. Stumbling over to the dropped umbilical cord, he returned quickly to the task of reconnecting unit 02.

"Looks like I owe you again third child" said Asuka, while Shinji fumbled to get the umbilical cord to connect. Shinji grinned. Power returned to Eva unit 02, its form suddenly standing erect once more, its stretching arms fully enjoying its regained ability of movement.

"Ahhhh!" let out Asuka, in a long satisfied pure. Her circuits were activating one by one and as she heard the clicks of the extra battery packs being put into place by Shinji behind her, her Eva was back up to full operating conditions.

"Thanks Shinji" she said happily, looking over her shoulder at Shinji. She turned back to look at her consol, eying the reformed enemy Evas.

Picking up a discarded enemy blade she readied herself.

"So who wants some, ha!" she said devilishly, a twisted smile on her face.

The enemy Evas had mostly reformed, reclaiming their weapons and forming into three groups to prepare for a simultaneous attack. They had obviously learnt from Asuka's original onslaught.

"Asuka, Shinji, I want you to pull back right now! Your position is too exposed" came suddenly the voice of Major Katsuragi off the comms.

"Misato!" whined Asuka, the thought of retreat not on her mind.

"Calm down Asuka" replied Misato " I want you to take care of a group of 3 just north of HQ on the way back, then wait for the others attack, I don't want your umbilical cords cut again so far from base" she said evenly. Asuka, again an evil smile on her face, turned to Shinji.

"Are you ready third?" she asked seductively. Holding the large blade weapon in a prone position.

"Anytime Asuka" Shinji replied arrogantly. Withdrawing his progressive knife and preparing his Eva. "Charge!" screamed Asuka as the two Evas started to sprint to their new targets.

Back in the control room, the Commanders had less to smile about, they could see the U.N ground forces closing in on the two Evas in the geo-front. And even though they could not harm the units directly, the Evas cable and batteries were their target, and after these were destroyed they only had to wait it out. And as for the fight in the catacombs, they were down to their second last defensive line, soon the U.N troops would be able to cut all power from the source, then it was really all over.

"Damn it, why does he not respond" came the hushed but venomous voice of Gendo. In the quite tense atmosphere of the control room this could be heard over the rumble of the not to far off explosions. Ritsuko and Misato exchanged worried glances, it was unlike the Commander to show any concern whatsoever.

"Is the live feed still active" asked Fuyuzuki calmly, standing next to Gendo.

"Yes commander" replied Ritsuko. " We're down to one unit but its still live."

Just then an alarm rang out, unit 00s umbilical cable had finally been cut, and the familiar five minutes appeared on the large screen and began to count down.

"Damn it!" spat Misato. "There's no other cable out there, were going to have to tell her to retreat"

She reached for the intercom switch.

"No" interrupted Gendo from behind. Misato span around

"What!" she exclaimed.

"I will talk to her" said Gendo. And before Misato could respond he reached towards his own control board.

"Rei" he said. A camera link with Rei suddenly appearing on the screen.

"Yes commander" came the voice Rei Ayanami, slightly more stressed then usual.

"What is the situation?" he asked calmly.

"Not good" she said simply "the position will fall soon regardless of my action"

The screen shook as another barrage impacted on her Eva.

"Rei I want you to hold out as long as possible do you understand me" he said.

"Yes commander" she replied, returning to her completely dull monotone voice, though her eyes showed something else.

"And Rei, however you do it" the commander continued, looking at her image on the screen "come back alive" and with that he leant back in the chair. Rei face noticeable changed to one of slight surprise, then determination.

"Yes commander"

And with that her link snapped shut. Misato and Ritsuko exchanged slightly shocked looks then returned to the combat screens.

Outside around Rei the world was in chaos, somehow the level of fire from both sides had managed to increase, both sides expecting a final push so using all their remaining ammunition. Tracers and explosions were all around as UN forces covered the hills like ants. Rei had been forced onto the communications hill itself using her Eva and her AT field to protect the forces behind her. The hill itself was almost a complete loss, almost all mobile units were destroyed and only two pockets of NERV forces remained, one at the mobile unit immediately behind (and almost under) Rei's Eva and the other group at the rubble that was the old command centre. Though even from the rubble the rate of fire of the embattled forces was still impressive. Rei's Eva was simply out of its elements, she had spent most of her time defending her cable and the hill. After her assault rifle had ran out of rounds she had no offensive capabilities left, the U.N forces were too spread out to engage directly, and effectively. The U.N forces had concentrated fire on her cable and she was surprised it had remained intact this long, only due to her constant vigilance and movement had it remained intact. Her Eva itself was not looking that brilliant either, under constant barrage from AP and HE rounds the armour was wearing thin in some places, she had fallen heavily a couple of times and her AT Field only protected from some angles. It was like a praying mantis verses a swarm of ants, there were simply to many of them. Caught by another barrage on the earth below her feet unit 00 lost its footing and fell heavily, almost crushing the mobile field unit she was protecting.

Back in the control centre, the timer was down to three minutes, The control room was quiet as reports of the collapse of the second last defence line came through.

"Well that's it then" said Shigeru, reaching below the desk and bringing up an uzi.

"Ya" said Makoto, cocking his own hand-gun. "Well at least we gave it one hell of a shot" he fished, eyeing the east entrance expectantly,.

Gunfire and explosions could be heard very close now. Suddenly however a face appeared on the main screen it was the Minister of Defence.

"Gendo Ikari" he said calmly.

"Minister Muyo" said Gendo, good hand in front of his mouth "I trust this call means that aid will be arriving imminently."

"It has taken some time to pull together a task force at such short notice, though given what I have seen from the live feed I feel I should commit now with what I have" he said evenly.

"That is a most fortuitous move" replied Gendo "So what assets do we have?"

"We have 2000 assorted infantry and specialists with close air-support 1 minute away from NERV HQ and whatever air assets are available are already engaged for air superiority with the JSDA U.N units, more units will be arriving shortly" he continued.

"Commander, I would ask that the troops descend directly into the Geo-front and land just east of NERV HQ, markers will be displayed there, and NERV troops will direct them to the most critical location." said Gendo calmly. "I would also ask that they set up communications as soon as possible as we are about to lose our link"

In the command centre all eyes were on Gendo, Misato gave him an expectant look. Not noticing her he continued. "Given that, I would ask that any available air units proceed to Mt Tokowana immediately, to cover our last remaining surface units retreat."

"It shall be done" said Minister Muyo, after which he suddenly clicked off, the NERV link finally having been broken. Fast as lightning Gendo looked up at the surface tactical screen, appraising the situation. The service entrance that unit 00 had appeared through was already destroyed, unit 00 was trapped on the surface. He clicked the intercom, unit 00 only had about one minute of power left.

"Rei I want you to position the Eva so as to manually eject as close as possible to the communications centre, you and the remaining forces are to retreat immediately down the access shaft." commanded Gendo hurriedly. "Is that understood?"

On the screen Rei nodded, her screen disappeared, as she was cut off once more.

Up on the surface Rei was crouched low, physically shielding the retreat of the mobile command centre operators and guarding troops back to the command centre. With only 30 seconds of power left she covered the final distance crawling, as the troops scrambled over the debris into what was left of the communications centre. With 20 seconds left, Eva unit 00 lay down, positioning its entry plug to discharge, point blank, into the rubble next to the last open entrance. Giving her final command she pressed the eject switch and sat back as the entry plug shot out of the Eva into the rubble. Now without power the Entry plug went dark She crawled over to the entrance when suddenly a massive explosion rocked the entry plug. Rei lost her footing and fell back, landing awkwardly.

Had the U.N launched one final barrage to cut off her last retreat? She sat there for a second, contemplating her death at the hand of the approaching U.N troops. Before she could think about it for to long however the entry plug was opened from outside. Rei backed away apprehensively.

"Anyone alive in here?" asked a surprisingly calm and welcoming voice. Rei's eyes adjusted to the bright light and recognised a NERV uniform. A smile on her face, she moved towards him. The young captain helped Rei out and onto the rubble, other then him there were only 6 NERV troops guarding the entrance to the rubble.

"We had better go." he said, lifting her up without hesitation, and carrying her back to the communications centres entrance. Looking either way Rei saw that the area was surprisingly quiet, the hilltop was surrounded by a massive veil of smoke and dust, Unknown to Rei a government JSDF bombing run had temporarily thrown the U.N forces into disarray. Rei only saw the surrounding terrain as a blur however as she was quickly carried into the rubble. Putting her back on her feet the captain led her towards a hatch. Rei went down the ladder first, the last of the NERV personnel quickly followed, closing the hatch behind them. Descending frantically they were about 4 stories down when the captain turned to one of his men and nodded. They ran down a corridor and Rei heard an explosion behind her, obviously sealing the entrance.

Moving again Rei turned a corner, and suddenly stopped. In front of her lay a shocking scene of carnage and suffering, the hall was filled with wounded men and woman, some lying some sitting, smears of blood covering everything. Shocked Rei was unable to move, simply standing there, taking in the scene. Moving past her still form, the Captain said.

"Well we have done our part, its up to the others now"

And with that the two of them moved to try and help the wounded as best they could.

Back on the surface of the geo front the situation was not looking good. Two more UM enemy Evas were down, which made a total of 5 which were regenerating. Though 2 were having trouble, given the amount of damage that they had sustained. The rest had closed on the two pilots and were engaged in close combat. Both cables had been cut and the two Evas were on their battery packs with about 20min of combat left. Given the sheer number of adversaries the two Evas were back to back spending their time deflecting attacking blows from the circle of surrounding enemy Evas. Shinji having captured a enemy weapon at this stage. The attacks were only coming in sporadically, none of the attackers were willing to engage fully, only cutting off their retreat and waiting for the power to run out. The scene was intense, with positioning and tense waiting mixed in with occasional frenzied attack.

"Bloody cowards!" yelled Asuka as the latest attacker quickly backed off from its initial sortie.

"Damn it! This is getting us no where!" yelled Shinji at the world in general.

Back in the command centre Misato was contemplating, she turned to Ritsuko.

"How are these things regenerating themselves?" she asked almost accusingly.

"They must each have an S2 engine, hooked up specially in them or something" Ritsuko replied. "Considering how much energy it would take, there must be a core unit somewhere".

"Shinji, Asuka! Take them all down, then concentrate on one each and take it apart until you find their core. Then take it out with your progressive knife!" yelled Misato over the comms.

"You think its that easy! They're getting better you know!" came the angry voice of Asuka.

"Its that or death! You only have 15min left!" said Misato coldly. Suddenly Shinji's window came up in Asuka's EVA, he was smiling oddly.

"Not up for the challenge 2nd child?" he said teasingly. Asuka was momentarily shocked, he hadn't used that term to her before and the emphasis on the second was just a little too obvious. Returning to her usual smirk Asuka said

"Lets go Shinji, you and me… well take out the three in front of you first.. on three"

"Two"

"One"

"GO!" Asuka screamed, turning her Eva around so quickly that she was almost even with Shinji as they raced off to their first three targets. The enemy was quick to react and closed in, hoping to catch the two from behind. The three enemy UM Evas in front of the pilots looked like they were about to flee the two advancing units but then readied themselves. So this was it, both sides fully committed, only one side would be left standing at the end of this battle.

Both pilots were screaming as they bore down on their targets, Asuka suddenly launched her Eva into the air, soaring high into the sky her Eva paused for a second, before it beared down on its targets. Two enemy units raised their heads to follow her flight, ready to strike on her descent. The third kept track of Shinji who had sped up. Asuka, looking down, noticed the third UM unit not tracking her, and threw her blade down as hard as she could. One upward looking enemy unit tried to deflect the downward plunging blade with its own to save its comrade, but was just out of reach, Asuka's weapon struck home on the downward looking enemy Eva, striking it in the top of the head and effectively slicing it in two. Asuka was descending now and the last Eva was preparing for a killer upwards blow. Shinji however had gone turbo again, and had closed the distance rapidly, catching the last two Evas unaware. Sliding low he delivered an upwards cut to the unit that had tried to deflect Asuka's blade and was still recovering from the effort. He then raised himself quickly, spinning around and delivered a massive horizontal cut to the back of the enemy unit waiting on Asukas descent. It was effectively cut in half, and began to fall when Asuka's outstretched leg landed on its now lifeless form, driving its upper torso into the ground in a massive explosion of dust. They had no time to rest however, as the remaining 4 closed in with speed. Deflecting the two blades aimed at him, Shinji's Eva was never the less hit hard, firstly by a kick and elbow from the first unit as it sped by, carried by its momentum. Then by the fist of the second UM unit which used its momentum to throw unit 01 back viscously. Shinji landed hard.

Asuka was faring no better against her two opponents, having no weapon she had to back flip to avoid the first stroke. She was caught across the back in the second swing as the enemy unit ran past unable to stop, she yelped as her nerve sensors fired, landing on all four. The other UM unit was closing, and she grabbed a nearby discarded blade and swung it up just in time, the two weapons collided, spinning off into the distance. The second enemy unit, now unarmed, collided headlong into Asuka's crouching Eva, sending both of them tumbling back, wrestling. The two giants stopped sliding with the enemy UM unit on top, pinning Asuka to the ground.

Shinji had at this time got back up and was squaring off against the last two, out of the corner of his eye he noticing Asuka's plight, her second UM opponent closing to finish the pinned Eva pilot off. Shinji activated his progressive knife, grabbing it with his right hand and throwing it in one smooth motion.

Asuka was struggling on the ground, cringing to look up at the other approaching UM unit, when suddenly the unit holding her down went limp, looking back she saw Shinji's progressive knife sticking out of the side of its head. Grinning evilly she grabbed the knife and swung it above her head, cutting the feet of the approaching Eva out from under it. It however had already raised its weapon and fell forward, the end of its blade penetrated the shoulder armour of unit 02. Asuka screamed and drove the knife into the torso of the falling unit. Stricken, it collapsed on top of her, and she was effectively covered by two fallen units.

Meanwhile Shinji was still not doing well, he had slightly damaged one unit but he himself had received cuts and blows, his left leg was seriously damaged and his left hand had also lost strength. He had also lost both battery packs and was down to 5 minutes power. Deciding to charge he lunged forward, deflecting and slashing wildly he managed to impale one enemy unit with his blade, though now unable to retrieve his weapon he was forced to let go. Throwing himself back to avoid the other UM units swing of its weapon. Unit 01 quickly sprung back up, but now without a weapon the situation did not look good. Squaring up, the last two units sized each other up, circling each other for a few seconds. The scene was surprisingly quiet now that they were the last two standing.

Unit 01 stopped moving and stood feet apart, arms stretched wide waiting for the inevitable attack…. The enemy unit moved slowly, setting itself up for the final lung. Shinji was becoming impatient.

"Come on you bastard finish me off!" he screamed. The enemy unit began to charge obligingly. Shinji cringed, awaiting the inevitable. However as the enemy unit brought its blade up it began to stumble. Dropping its weapon, it faltered, falling hard, its limp body slid to rest at the feet of the surprised Shinji in unit 01. Shinji looked down astonished, he saw his progressive knife sticking out of the UM enemy units back. Looking up he saw the standing figure of Asuka's Eva, still posed in its last throwing position.

"No one kicks Shinji's ass but me!" Asuka said triumphantly. Shinji smiled at her

"Thanks Asuka" he said simply. Suddenly however Misato's face appeared in the bottom left hand side of theirs screens.

"Hurry up you two! Before they regenerate!" she said with worry in her voice.

"Sure thing" said Shinji coming to his senses. Both Evas grabbed their progressive knives and went to work on the nearest fallen enemy. They tore and cut at the bodies of the enemy, the UM units soft matter reacting to the blows, trying to minimise the damage, as well as….. hide something?

"Ewww this is disgusting!" came the appalled voice of Asuka as the body squirmed and stuttered underneath her.

"That's it!" came the voice of Ritsuko " That green sphere you see occasionally, the body is trying to hide it, that's the S2 engine!" Both pilots moved frantically, cutting away the mass, then almost simultaneously they both yelled

"Got it!"

Holding the green mass in their hand, they noticed that the remaining fleshy body still attached to the sphere tried to form a protective layer.

"Now I want you two to destroy it with your knifes, be careful though, they will probably self destruct." said Ritsuko.

"Wonderful" said Asuka eyeing her cylinder. Looking over she saw Shinji kneel over a corpse, looking at his own cylinder.

"You ready 3rd child" she said coolly, but with feeling.

"It was great to see you as your old self Asuka" Shinji said with a smile

"You fought well Shinji" she said with feeling. A massive smile appeared on Shinji's face, that was about the best compliment he could think of from Asuka. Both nodded at each other, turning their attention back to the spheres

"Raise AT fields!" came the call from the command centre. Hexagonal fields filled the air around the two Evas. Together the two pilots raised their knives and brought it down on their respective cylinders. For Shinji and Asuka the world turned white.

Back in the command centre the operators shielded their eyes, and then the earth shook. The explosions of the two struck S2 engines was immense, almost as powerful as an N2 mine. Not only that but the initial explosions set off a mini chain reaction, setting off two other close by downed UM Evas S2 engines. In what seemed a split second four massive craters were ripped into the earth and the plume of fire raised high through the hole in the geo-front up into the atmosphere. The effect was awesome, four explosions causing all kinds of effects as the plumes of fire danced and twisted in the tormented atmosphere. In the command centre alarms were sounding all over the place. But the rumble quickly died down.

The screen showed that the two Evas had landed awkwardly after being thrown around by the multiple explosions, The both ended up lying on the ground on the NERV HQ side of the nearest crater.

"There still alive!" exclaimed Misato joyfully, looking at the still shacking screen. The AT fields had absorbed the majority of the impact, however the sheer force of the impact and the number of directions it had sprung from had thrown the Evas around violently. Both Asuka's battery packs were destroyed and she was down to 5 minutes, Shinji now on 2min of power.

"Asuka, Shinji, are you O.K." came Misato's voice over the intercom. A groan came from Asuka, Shinji grunted with effort to raise his Eva. The explosion had further damaged Shinji's leg and Asuka's back, Shinji could not walk with confidence, and he hobbled over to Asuka.

"You O.K. Asuka?" he asked, pain obvious in his voice.

"Yah… I'm fine" she said weakly, getting up.

"You two retreat back to HQ, your almost out of power, there are still 8 out there" came Misato's concerned voice.

"I can't run on this leg" said Shinji, looking down with concern.

"That's what I'm here for" came the voice of Asuka, taking his Eva's arm and placing it around her Eva's shoulder. Quickly the two hobbled and stumbled out of the crater and made there way back to HQ.

"Now don't take advantage of this Baka" came the cheeky voice of Asuka, trying hard to help Shinji move quickly.

"Wouldn't dream of it" replied Shinji smiling, and the two continued on their way determinedly.

In the command centre Misato and co were looking for the condition of the enemy, the four furthest away had regenerated and picked up their glider sets.

"They may be coming in at you via air" warned Misato.

"This just isn't fair" came Asuka's whiney voice in reply, but she piked up the tempo almost dragging Shinji along.

The four units sprung into the air, gaining height quickly, weapons in hand. They rushed towards the two units. Closing in from above the situation looked hopeless, the two Evas hobbling defenceless bellow the flying creatures. The UM units closed in, and just as it looked like the end for the two NERV Evas, the attackers suddenly changed course. Swooping low over the two retreating Evas, the UM units gained hight again. Forming a tight circle in the air, simply gliding around as they had been at the start of the engagement.

In the command centre reports were coming in, the Japanese air force had gained air superiority and the ground forces were starting to push back the U.N forces in the catacombs. As well as this an armoured brigade was starting to engage UN JSDA forces in the northernmost areas. Some units had already surrendered, or asked for a cease fire, unsure why they found themselves suddenly fighting fellow countryman, and why their superiors were suddenly no longer contactable for comment. The ground condition was deteriorating rapidly for the SEELE controlled UN forces, now in a state of disarray.

"That's it, we've done it!" exclaimed Maya cheerfully.

"I hope the enemy Eva's realise that" came the calm but somehow loud voice of Gendo. They all looked up at the screen, still showing the two damaged Evas making there way back to headquarters, behind them the four enemy Evas gliding through the air…. There was a strange silence as all watched expectantly. Suddenly however a smoke trail appeared from left of screen as an enthusiastic Japanese Air-force pilot fired a missile off at the gliding Evas. It struck one in the leg, doing minimal damage, however this seemed to have the desired effect, as the four suddenly descended to their 4 still surviving comrades, who were still regenerating despite massive burns. Picking up the forms of their fallen comrades in various states of regeneration all 8 sprung into the air, piking up speed as they made their way out of the geo-front and away, flying low over the mountains to the south.

In the command centre, they were all speechless, as if not believing their own eyes. Then suddenly, as if to emphasise the point, a voice came over the intercom, it was a young lieutenant.

"We did it! The U.N forces are in full retreat………. The fighting's over!"

At these words the command centre broke into hysteria! There was cheering and joyful outburst as the staff began to embrace each other enthusiastically. Protocol went right out the window as everyone let loose emotions of relief, embracing and generally sharing in the feeling of joy in having survived. Above it all Gendo and Fuyuzuki looking down, smiles on their faces. In-between the furore downstairs Misato turned to give the two commanders a quick salute, eyes gleaming in tears of joy before she was mobbed by another enthusiastic staff member, Ritsuko also turned to give an approving nod and smile to the two before returning to the enthusiasm.

Gendo stood up end enjoyed the scene, Fuyuzuki joining him at the railing. Gendo turned, offering his hand to Fuyuzuki.

"Well done Professor" he said.

"Well done Commander" replied Fuyuzuki, shaking his hand. The two exchanged a smile and turned back to the celebrations below. His smile decreasing a little, Gendo spoke.

"And now we must go on the offensive" he said solemnly. Fuyuzukis face turned serious once more as he looked out onto the crowd below.

"The old men at SEELE must be stoped once and for all, and they're not going down without a fight" The smile was now completely gone from Gendos face his expression turned serious, Fuyuzuki nodded.

All over what was left of NERV headquarters the news was coming through, confirming that the sudden stop in the attack did mean that the fighting was over. From the catacombs to the surface the surviving personnel crawled out of their positions to see the withdrawing U.N units and celebrate with their comrades.

Over near the now sealed entrance of the last communications hill Rei finished up bandaging a leg when the news came through from up the corridor.

"That's it! They're in retreat! Its over!" yelled the enthusiastic young radio operator, a massive hurray erupted from the survivors and Rei stood up to see everyone start to embrace each other in relief. Suddenly grabbed from behind Rei was spun around a couple of times whilst in a hug before being put back down and spun around. Rei found herself looking into the face of an overjoyed captain Muyo, the same captain that had retrieved her from her entry plug.

"Well done pilot Ayanami you did it!" he said giving her shoulders a little shake. Rei, still a little shocked, looked up at him, but then broke into a smile. Saying in a surprisingly loud voice (so as to be audible above the cheering) she said.

"Thank you captain, we all did well"

And with that the captain turned to embrace some fellow soldiers. Rei watched, a smile on her face at the proceedings, though it faded slightly as she wondered about Shinji's fate.

Back on the surface of the geo-front Shinji and Asuka were suddenly surprised to have the overjoyed face of Misato come on screen, behind her they could see the other personnel all embracing each other and generally carrying on.

"You did it!" they heard Misato scream over the noise around her "Its over, they're in full retreat, you can stop running now!" Misato said, being suddenly grabbed from behind by Makoto and spun around.

Asuka and Shinji, unbelieving, stopped walking, looking back around to see that no more enemy Evas were visible. Completely exhausted the two Evas suddenly stumbled and fell forwards, the legs giving way without the continued efforts of the pilots. Falling forward onto the earth both Evas come to rest lying down, arms splayed.

The gravity of the news began to sink into Shinji mind, and with a massive smile on his face he suddenly had only one thought, to get out of the Eva! Without any more hesitation he pressed the manual eject button and leaned back as the entry plug shot out of the Eva. Waiting for the LCL to drain he forced open the door, jumping out onto the back of unit 01. Elated, Shinji fully stretched his body to embrace the glorious sunrays now filtering through the hole in the geo-front.

Shinji let out a massive. "Yee ha!" at the world in general, totally overjoyed at having survived the battle. Looking fixedly at the blue sky above he suddenly heard a similar feminine cry off to his right. Looking over he saw Asuka on unit 02, also stretching to embrace the world in general, she obviously had had the same impulse.

"Asuka!" he yelled enthusiastically, waving at her.

"Shinji!" she yelled back and started to make her way towards him. Shinji followed suit, both sliding down the backs of their Evas and running to cross the small space of ground between them. Before Shinji knew what happened he was spinning, trying to stay upright as an enthusiastic Asuka had jumped the last distance and embraced him in a massive hug. He had embraced her in return but it took all his strength to stay upright, Asuka actually weighing more then he did. They finally came to a halt, Shinji now smiling out of relief as well as joy. He was still a little dazed.

"We did it, we won!" she yelled, and before he or she knew it, she had leaned in to give him a short but strong kiss on the lips. Realising what she had just done Asuka was momentarily stunned, looking into the equally stunned face of Shinji. She began to turn red, but then Shinji suddenly broke into laughter and gave her another enthusiastic hug, which she returned, if a little unsurely. Shinji released her from the hug and held her at arms length. Before she had time to react he said.

"Heck, this is great, the only time I can actually hug you and not be beaten to a pulp" he said beaming at her. He released her but stayed were he was, very close. Her red face turned into a smile and she let out a laugh.

"Don't get used to it baka" she said with a playful smile. And with that she gave him a playful punch in the arm. Both beamed.

"Who would have guessed that I would be so happy to see you!" she said in an animatedly playful way, taking a step back.

"It's good to have you back Asuka" Shinji said taking a step forward, briefly placing his hand on her shoulder.

"……. Lets go check on the others!" he said, and with that he started to jog in the direction of NERV HQ. Asuka quickly followed, the two running happily side by side towards HQ.

The mood however could not stay overjoyed for long, as the reality of the situation began to creep back into the visions of the survivors. The casualty rate was very high, almost everyone was injured in one way or another, even Shinji's and Asuka's own injuries made themselves known once they had started jogging. Even though the rearguard action had been brilliantly organised there were still numerous dead from both sides, and many a NERV personnel started to morn the loss of a close friend or loved one. By the time Shinji and Asuka were in the control room the mood had changed from battle organisation to casualty organisation. Injured lined the corridors and were even in the command centre (the fighting haven gotten right up to the entrance). Shinji and Asuka made their way through the crowd, getting occasional encouraging comments from some of the personnel they passed, the relieved mood persisting somewhat. When they found Misato she was organising the incoming medical supplies and personnel from the Japanese army.

"Shinji, Asuka, I'm so glad you're all right" she said, after giving her last order. Standing up to give them both an enthusiastic hug at once. Releasing them she turning to Asuka.

"I'm so glad your alright Asuka, you had us all worried there for a while!" she beamed at her. Unsure how to respond Asuka smiled and fidgeted on the spot.

"Well I'm .. ah thanks… Misato…" Asuka started to say, just then however a door opened to their left and Rei walked into the room.

"Rei!" exclaimed Shinji, braking Misato's light grip and running over to Rei. As soon as she saw Shinji Rei broke into a big smile (huge for her!) and ran the short distance to him. They embraced in a massive hug, similar to Asuka's and Shinji's though finished up just holding each other.

Asuka was obviously shocked at this new development.

"How long have I been out for?" asked Asuka dumbfounded, staring at the emotional Rei in disbelief.

"You were out for almost a month" said Misato, looking at Shinji and Rei thoughtfully, her arms crossed. Asuka suddenly had a twinge of jealousy, now that she noticed that the two were not letting go of each other, and before she knew it she said.

"So where was wonder girl while Shinji and I were risking our lives out there?"

She had said this in her usual loud voice, loud enough to make Shinji and Rei hear and turn towards her. Though after saying this, her expression became uncertain, as if she doubted what she had just said.

"Actually, Rei was fighting off an entire division of U.N forces. And keeping our communications line open, without which we would not be here" said Misato evenly. "She also saved a lot of lives out there"

And with that Misato turned to the control panel, opening an outside shot of the fallen unit 00, battered and burned lying splayed across the devastated hill. Asuka turned back towards Shinji and Rei.

"Oh.. I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me.." she said simply "Rei. Of course I'm glad to see your alright, looks like you had it tough" Asuka finished by giving her a warm smile. Everyone in earshot was dumbfounded, even Rei looked perplexed. Asuka looked around her, seeing only silly expressions she put on her classic annoyed tone.

"What? Can't a girl say she's sorry around here? Can't I praise a fellow pilot?" she ended with her arms crossed, feet apart defensively. Rei moved, and the two pilots let go of each other, she turned to face Asuka "Its good to see you well again pilot Soryo" she said simply, a smile present on her face. Ritsuko, who had observed all the going on from the side, walked up behind Misato, a sly look in her face, and in that classic Ritsuko style she said.

"So its taken a small war to get the three acting like comrades, I hope we can count on a little more co-operation from now on" she finished. Ritsuko turned back to the consoles and walked off smiling. The three pilots broke into smiles and Misato stood there, an unbelieving expression still on her face.

Now that medical help was arriving, the three young pilots found that they were simply getting in the way. After being checked over and bandaged up the three were dismissed, and told to wait for Misato near the geo-front entrance.

The three pilots got changed, Shinji was waiting up on the surface when Asuka and Rei appeared. Rei was filling in Asuka about what had happened so far. Shinji was amazed to see the two chatting so openly, but after what had happened the last week or so he soon got over it. The three went and sat under a tree, which was surprisingly still whole, having survived the fighting unscathed. Asuka listened intently as they told her everything, about the incident in the battle with Kaworu, how Shinji had formulated a plan against his father. Also how they had gone on that weekend trip, though both left out the bits surrounding Shinji's and Rei's more intimate moments. Shinji having to interrupt Rei at first, but she soon got the hint

"Aww, why do I miss out on all the fun?" Asuka whined. Shinji said she could come on the next one laughingly. They also left out the contribution of the part _angel_ Rei played in the experiment, Rei needing no prompting to gloss over this part. They continued to tell all they knew about what SEELE as well as Gendo's action after his time in unit 00. Asuka was bemused at the depth of deception, though she said she always thought there was more going on. Shinji finished by describing his and Rei's battle before he came to aid Asuka, to which Asuka looked impressed, saying she never would have expected such things from Shinji. Shinji, smiling, said that he had changed after seeing what he had seen in the Kaworu incident. Quietly Asuka also admitted that she could remember some things from her coma, like some kind of dream, though she stopped her explanation there. Looking more solemn she raised her head to face Shinji, saying suddenly that she thought that her mother's soul was in unit 02, something she had only realised in the last battle. Shinji, momentarily stunned, suddenly came to the realisation that his mother's soul must also be trapped in unit 01. The coincidences were simply too many, he thought back rapidly over all the experiences he had had in the Eva. He was lost in his own thoughts when Asuka asked Rei whose soul she thought was trapped in unit 00, perhaps her mothers? Shinji coming back to reality, giving Rei a concerned look. She simply stated she didn't know, and couldn't remember much from her childhood.

Asuka, unaware but with slight concern in her voice, suggested that perhaps Gendo could tell them more next time they all meet. Shinji and Rei exchanged glances. Eager to change topics, they started chatting about Toji, Hikari and Kensuka when suddenly a NERV van, driven by Misato, appeared in front of them. Shinji looked down and realised they had been talking for 3 hours! They all climbed into the van, and Misato sped off home. They passed numerous checkpoints on the way into and through what was left of the city, the U.N forces had either fled or surrendered but precautions were still being taken. Misato said that the situation was now well in hand and that most NERV staff were now on leave to recuperate after the last 24 hours, though Gendo, Fuyuzuki and Ritsuko were still working triple overtime as expected. They arrived at Rei's place when Misato suddenly announced that Rei was moving into the apartment next to theirs, and would be staying with them until it was arranged. Rei and Shinji broke into a smile and after some confused expressions, as if not believing her own thoughts, so did Asuka.

"Why not?" she said to herself. They gathered Rei's possessions, an act that took a pitifully short time, and made their way back to Misato's. They were all smiles as they opened the door, being greeted by a hysterical PenPen. They had forgotten that he had been alone through all this commotion and he was worried sick. It took reassuring hugs and constant patting from all of them for about ½ an hour before he calmed down again. All chatted away happily while Rei and Shinji made dinner. Asuka asking Misato more questions, most of which she couldn't answer. This annoyed Asuka slightly but she brushed it off. Soon they were all gathered together at the table and all began to tuck into the massive mountain of food. Halfway through however Asuka stopped stuffing her face long enough to get a question out.

"So what do we think Commander Ikari is going to say tomorrow?" she asked, while reaching for some strips of beef. Misato and Shinji exchanged glance, looking sidelong at Rei and then nodding slightly to each other in silent confirmation.

"The truth I think" said Misato, a little unsure.

"That should take quite a while" came the reply from Asuka which generated a short laugh from Shinji, Rei simply kept eating. Misato, smiling, continued.

"Yes it should be interesting" she said, her smile fading. She continued "Though some things may come as quite a shock"

Asuka looked suspicious but kept her cool and asked off hand.

"Shock, what shock?"

There was a pause as Misato formulated her words. Though then suddenly Rei spoke.

"What she is trying to say is that tomorrow we will most likely find out that I am not entirely human." Rei put down her chopsticks and raised her gaze to look at Asuka. Asuka looked a little taken aback, so she simply stared back.

"What?…. How? " Asuka asked.

"Rei can generate an AT field on her own, she does not require an Eva" Misato added. This struck home a little deeper and Asuka's shock was a little more obvious. She then however must have noticed her own state, and her expression snapped to one of seriousness. In complete control of her voice she said.

"So are you an Angel?"

"I don't believe so" Rei said simply. Misato and Shinji looked at Asuka expectantly. She however kept her gaze firmly fixed on Rei. After a while she said.

"Are you for us or against us?"

"I don't understand" replied Rei.

"Are you" she paused "Rei Ayanami here to destroy mankind or save it?" she asked a little more accusingly. Shinji began to worry about were this line of questions was going.

"I do not wish to destroy mankind" said Rei.

"Will you fight the angels" Asuka asked again.

"If they threaten us" she looked around the room, at Shinji and Misato and then back at Asuka "then yes."

Shinji and Misato turned back to Asuka.

"Well that's enough for me" Asuka said cheerfully, and took a massive bite out of a loaf of bread, chewing away. She looked back up to see Shinji and Misato still staring at her.

"What?" she said.

"Well its just that… well the way you used to treat her and.. well now this" Shinji said, stammering slightly.

"Oh" she said surprised, turning to face Rei "I'm sorry about some of the things I said back then Rei" she didn't skip a beat " I wasn't quite myself back then, we're O.K now…. Right?" she asked, maintaining the dominant energy in her voice. Now however it was Misato's and Shinji's turn to looked shocked, and the didn't hide it.

"Certainly pilot Soryo" said Rei, ignoring the other two.

"That's good then" said Asuka with a big smile, which vanished when she saw Shinji's and Misato's expression.

"What! I'm not aloud to say sorry!" she yelled at Shinji. Who cringed as a reflex, though quickly turned to continue eating his food as coolly as possible.

"Not at all Asuka" he said hurriedly with a weak smile. At least some things were still almost the same.

Asuka gave a triumphant "Humph" and started to eat again, smiling to herself between chomps. Misato looked from one child to the other, a bemused look on her face, where was she? Looking down in front of her she saw a beer can. Grabbing it she took a massive swig. Slamming it back down on the table she closed her eyes, a smile appeared on her face. 'strange days' she thought to her self.

"Well that's it. I'm off to have a bath" said Misato suddenly, and with that she stood up, grabbing her beer can and walked to the hall. Leaning back into the room she said.

"Hope you kids don't mind cleaning up"

And vanished before they could give an answer.

"That Misato" said Asuka annoyed. "She's always getting out of work"

"Yeh" said Shinji with a chuckle "Wish I'd thought of it"

This got a curious look from Asuka who watched Shinji eat for a little while.

"Actually Shinji isn't it your turn to do the dishes tonight?" she said innocently.

"Oh no you don't" said Shinji, without braking his attention off of his food "we all help tonight."

And he took another mouthful. Asuka, slightly annoyed, asked defiantly "And who made you the boss?"

"No one….." replied Shinji. "I just thought you would want to help your fellow pilots, anyway you wouldn't want us to think your turning lazy like Misato would you?"

He looked at her pleasantly. Asuka, unused to this side of Shinji, paused for a moment. She lent forward her eyes narrowing.

"That wouldn't be a _smart_ remark from the second child I hope" she said, but without the extreme of her usual venom.

"I wouldn't dream of it" replied Shinji, with a disarming smile. He then started to stack the plates in front of him, and stood up, making his way to the kitchen. Asuka watched him go and turned to Rei who was still eating.

"Since when has Shinji grown a spine?" she asked offhand. Rei stoped eating and looked at Asuka, she paused for a second, a slightly confused look on her face.

"Since the battle with Kaworu there has been a change in Shinji.. and everyone at NERV….. Even you pilot Soryo" she said evenly. Asuka reflected for a second

"Hmmm… I think I like it" she said finally. She looked at Rei, who was not looking quite as cold as she had always used to look, but Asuka couldn't figure out why. Was it because Rei had changed? Or was it because Asuka's perception of Rei had changed?

"Though don't tell Shinji that" Asuka added with a smile. Rei paused for a second, then simply said.

"If you like"

Giving her a smile for no reason at all. The three of them cleaned up happily, Asuka speculating wildly about the secrets to come out tomorrow, while Rei and Shinji simply listened. They finished up and found themselves in the living room. Asuka taking the chair while Shinji crashed on the sofa. Rei, arriving last, took a seat next to Shinji and leant up against him, though not really affectionately. Asuka looked at the pair out of the corner of her eye, a look of annoyance crossed her face, however before she could further speculate Misato entered the room.

"Well I don't know about you kids but I'm bushed, I reckon we all hit the hay" she said, rubbing her still wet hair with a towel while all three looked at her approvingly, in the last 5 minutes their energy had really started to fail.

"Are you happy to sleep on the couch tonight Rei" Misato asked. Before Rei could respond however Asuka suddenly interrupted.

"She can stay in my room Misato!" said Asuka. The other three turned to look at her, Misato and Shinji, a little taken aback.

"I have an extra mattress, it will be much better then sleeping out here" Asuka continued. She glanced over at Shinji, who Rei was still leaning on. She wasn't exactly clear about her thoughts, though she knew that she didn't want Rei alone out here tonight, and she also didn't want to be alone tonight either. Misato, to tired to be too surprised, turned to Rei.

"Are you happy with that Rei." she asked.

"That will be fine" Rei said simply. Misato turned to leave the room.

"Well come along Rei I will give you a spare set of sheets" said Misato and wandered off. Rei let out an exaggerated yawn and gave Shinji a quick smile.

"Goodnight Shinji-san" Rei said. She got up and followed Misato out of the room. Shinji was left sitting there contently. He looked across at Asuka who was watching him coolly, frankly too tired to be intimidated he gave her a weak smile.

"So you and the first, ha?" Asuka asked completely normal. Shinji, leaning back, looked at her, he couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable, though it wasn't through fear, it was something else.

"Ah well… I'm not really sure" he stammered "it just sort of happened" he said.

"So is it serious?" Asuka asked, turning her head slightly to fake a little disinterest.

"Well I care for her" he said slowly "I don't really know, I think it makes her happy… She really has had a tough life so far" he said finally. Asuka looked down at he floor tiredly.

"Yes" she said quietly. "We all have in one way or another."

She was too tired to hide the sorrow in her voice well. She lifted herself out of her chair and made her way to the door. Shinji digested the new information and quickly stood up.

"Asuka" he called after her, she turned around at the doorway "It really is good to have you back" he said, and smiled warmly. Asuka also put on a tired but honest smile.

"Good night Shinji"

"Goodnight Asuka" replied Shinji, and with that she left the room. Shinji looked around at the apartment, a satisfied smile on his face, it was good to be home. Making his way to his room he closed the door behind him, then collapsed face down on his bed. Too tired to undress, he pulled the covers over him roughly, turning over he looked with half open eyes at the ceiling. His last thought before drifting of to sleep with a smile was, 'another familiar ceiling'.

Over in Asuka's room the girls were also quickly preparing for bed. Asuka had already changed into her pyjamas when Rei entered in her usual night ware, a shirt and underwear. Asuka sat on her bed. Now that she thought about it she had never seen Rei in any other clothes other then her school uniform.

"Don't you have any other clothes?" Asuka asked inquisitively.

"These are all that I require." Rei said simply, kneeling next to her bed. Asuka watched her for a second.

"Needed? Have you never wanted anything else?" Asuka asked after a short while.

"Wanted?" said Rei softly, she stayed still, contemplating the idea, she was lost in thought. Asuka watched her. Decided that if she was going to give living next to Rei a real go, she was going to have to somehow help make her normal, and she would be damned if she was going to let Shinji screw it up. Asuka made a decision.

"Rei…. you, me and Misato are going to have to go and buy new clothes for you as soon as possible" Asuka said determinedly. Rei, distracted from her thought patterns, turned to face Asuka, saying.

"That is not necessary."

Asuka half expecting that answer, but she nevertheless had to fight down her annoyance until she said in a relatively normal tone.

"I know it's not necessary, but I would like to"

Rei remembered her earlier help from Shinji, and looked at Asuka evenly, Asuka was now smiling expectantly.

"Thank You pilot Soryo" she said finally, offering a tired smile, then laying herself down on the bed. Asuka was a little stunned by the smile but then was pleased with herself.

"Well that's settled then" She said triumphantly, and fell back onto her bed, leaning over to turn off the last light. The room went dark, with the moonlight from the window give everything a blue ting. Asuka lay there thinking about the smile she had just received from Rei. 'So she didn't only hand it out to the Ikaris' Asuka thought. 'Shinji obviously wasn't such a bad influence. Though he could only do so much' Asuka thought to herself.

It was up to her to teach Rei the finer points of being a woman, she smiled to herself, it would be good, plus she thought, she might begin to actually like the new Rei. Asuka lay there for a while, enjoying the feeling of general contentedness, a feeling she had not had in some time.

She continued thinking about the day's events, her victory with Shinji, she blushed slightly as she remembered kissing him briefly, and the joy afterwards of seeing everyone still ok. She also remembered the surprise of seeing Shinji's and Rei's closeness, it had rubbed her the wrong way, and again just then, did she really have feelings for Shinji?

'Naa' she thought to herself. Even though he had changed a lot… She puzzled about it a little more before curiosity got the better of her.

"Rei" she said softly, without thinking about it.

"Yes" came the reply from the mattress on the floor. Asuka, a little shocked that she had actually spoken aloud, was unprepared to ask a question.

"Ummm… why did you kiss Shinji?" she finally blurted out the assumption, immediately embarrassed by the forward and odd question. Rei, in her bed, did not move, seemingly in thought for a while

"Because, I wanted to show him…. that I care for him" she answered finally. Asuka contemplated this for a while, not sure if she wanted to continue.

"Are the two of you going out?" she asked finally.

"I'm not sure what you mean, going out?" Rei replied. And suddenly it struck Asuka, it was not an act with Rei, there was no manipulation, just a simple genuine nature. Asuka turned to look down at the dozing girl, studying her for a second. She suddenly felt a little ashamed for having treated her so badly for so long, but this was something she was going to change. Shinji may be caring but she doubted he had changed enough to no longer be incompetent! She, Asuka Soryo Langley was going to help Rei Ayanami!

"Don't worry Rei-san……. Good night" she said sweetly, then turned over.

"Good night Pilot Soryo" replied Rei, and almost immediately fell asleep.

Authors notes:

There you go, the first section, not too bad I hope, and now that the story's set-up is done it's time for more fun character development and more action! ;)


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 2: Summer storm**

I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion, its just a fan-fiction, read and enjoy.

**Some feedback to my reviewers: (thanks!)**

Chief316: Thanks for the encouraging words, and the tips about Eva anatomy, admittedly I couldn't completely remember and took some artistic licence, it appears you could tell what I was getting at…I hope ;-) I suppose I was assuming that it's a different technology for these new units, a combined core/engine, which is sort of plausible as it is tied to the regeneration ability, something completely different for these new Eva types. Thanks for the tip, but I'll leave it for now, will hopefully not get in the way of you enjoying the story! Thanks again.

Also I heard a rumour that you shouldn't reply to reviews in the chapter submissions, but I have seen nothing official on the site, please warn me if I am accidentally infringing, thanks.

**2.1 You can't handle the truth!**

Authors note:

So what's going on? Well you can find out in this chapter, recapping and explanations nicely mixed with character interactions, everyone's back!

The next morning was a late start for all, none having the energy to set the alarm the night before. Of the sleeping household, Shinji was up first and headed into the bathroom.

He was back out quickly, dressing before anyone else was awake. Alone, Shinji decided to start breakfast. Setting the water to boil he went out onto the veranda to enjoy the midmorning sun. Leaning against the railing he heard the door slide open behind him, he turned to see Rei, dressed in her school uniform, walking towards him. He turned back, looking out onto what was left of the city.

"Good Morning Rei, did you sleep well?" he asked contently. Rei joined him, leaning against the railing.

"It was..." she paused for a second. "very nice" she finished, a relaxed expression on her face. The two stood there for a while, chatting about the quietness of the still mostly abandoned Tokyo 3. After a while the sliding door opened again, this time Asuka emerged, wearing her yellow summer dress.

"Come on you two, this breakfast isn't going to make itself." she said casually.

Shinji and Rei re-entered the kitchen to help Asuka make breakfast. They were quickly ready and Asuka went off to wake Misato. Soon they were all sitting down enjoying the meal.

Misato worried about the time as they were expected at NERV very soon for the bare-all brief from Gendo, something she didn't want to miss. They were speculating about the expected level of deceit to be exposed by Gendo when the phone rang. It was Ritsuko, she said that the meeting had been postponed until tomorrow as Gendo and Fuyuzuki were still required for "debriefing" by numerous world officials. Misato let out a sigh, and after relaying the information to the others, Asuka and Shinji imitated her. She continued chatting with Ritsuko when a slightly annoyed Asuka suddenly smiled. Jumping up she suggested that they all go shopping to get Rei some new clothes. Misato thought about this for a second, obviously approving as she started to ask Ritsuko about what their expected schedule would be today. Ritsuko confirmed they wouldn't be needed until about six p.m., as general clean up was still going on. Misato gave a nod to Asuka who smiled triumphantly. Misato finished up by asking if Ritsuko wanted to accompany them, and with a little persistence managed to convince her freind to join them at noon for lunch. The only question was where, the area around Tokyo 3 had been a war zone only a day earlier and thanks to Shinji's efforts the road and rail link to the south had been cut. They decided to go to a small town to the north west. It had barely been aware of the fighting and today was market day. It was settled then, Misato confirmed with Ritsuko before hanging up and returned to the table. Breakfast was quickly wrapped up and soon all four were at the front door.

"Hold on a second" interrupted Asuka. "We have the van right?"

"Yah" said Misato.

"Well can I give Hikari a call? It's always good to have another woman's opinion when you go clothes shopping." Asuka said enthusiastically.

"Sure, why not?" replied Misato happily, four kids were no worse then three.

"Hey can I call Toji and Kensuka" burst in Shinji "I think Toji's out of the hospital now."

"Now what would those stooges know about fashion?" snapped Asuka irritably.

"They're not there for fashion tips, they're there to keep me sane from your girl chatter!" Shinji snapped back, but both with more cheek then venom. Neither however backed down and were soon squaring up to each other, to the obvious surprise, and pleasure, of Asuka.

"Now that's enough you two" said Misato, rolling her eyes "There is enough room in the van for everyone, now if you don't hurry up and call we will never get there"

"I've got the phone first." exclaimed Asuka, dashing away. Shinji, not prepared, watched her go with a smirk.

"Shinji" said Misato. He turned just in time to catch the mobile Misato had thrown at him.

Soon they were all in the Van and on their way to the school, a convenient relying point, to pick up their three friends. The city was still in a bit of disarray after the battle it had seen only yesterday. And they had to stop at the occasional military checkpoint.

The whole situation was to say the least, surreal, whole city blocks had been badly damaged during the assault, not to mention the massive hole created by the N2 mine through to the geofront. The city had been overrun by an invading army only yesterday, and today, emerging once more from the bunkers, were the citizens of Tokyo 3, attempting to get on with their lives once more. Shinji speculated to himself that this amazing ability to accept such massive changes to their environment was due to the conditioning of the preceding Angel's attacks. After all, Tokyo 3 was a fortress city, even after all the damage it had sustained the sheer number of backup systems meant, that even if your next door apartment building was vaporised, you probably still had electricity and water. So people simply got on with it.

He looked out of the window at the passing city, it always surprised him how hardy the trees were, even after all the abuse they were still there, still alive, and looking relatively healthy. He smiled. The drive went quickly and soon they were at the school.

There to greet them were their three friends. The greetings were a little more enthusiastic then usual as the past days had seen some massive changes and Asuka had been out for some time. Hikari gave Asuka a massive hug, afterwards greeting Shinji, Misato and Rei happily. There was a round of hitting of elbows and slapping of backs as Toji and Kensuka congratulated Shinji on a job well done. They also quickly greeted Rei and Misato, even managing some happy comments for demon girl, who actually responded in kind, though with a slight air about her. Soon however they returned the conversation to the battle, Toji and Kensuka wanted to know all the details.

So on the trip up to the small town the car was split up along lines of gender. Shinji in the back giving an enthusiastic account of the previous day's action while in the front the girls also discussed the previous days events, though from a slightly more human aspect.

Upon hearing Asuka ask about Hikari's family, Shinji controlled himself enough to break his retelling and to enquire about his friends experience the previous day. So then the tables were turned, and Hikari, Toji and Aida all explained about how they and their families had hurried to the shelters upon the alarm given out from NERV, indicating an imminent attack. They said that there had been fighting nearby and all were shocked to see armed troops enter the compound. Apparently they were U.N troops and after doing a quick search, they told everyone to stay there and then left. Everyone was really worried, it was the first time troops had entered the shelter, the fighting continued for hours with some massive explosions being heard. After the all clear was given they came back out to see more troops deployed, this time from the JSDF, the damage to the city was awesome. Luckily there were no shelters in the central city area, which had been hardest hit, if not demolished completely, so they knew of no one who was missing. If they thought their world was crazy that was just the start, Toji said that on his way home a young man had run past saying that he had heard in the news that there was mass chaos throughout the world. Kensuka and Hikari agreed, saying that the bulletins were going non-stop, all over the world there were countless assassinations and general political unrest. There appeared to be an endless string of military and political coup's going on simultaneously. Critical targets had been hit, seemingly terrorist attacks, though no-one was claiming responsibility, no one knew who to trust any more, the world political system had seemingly ceased to function. Everyone was in a climate of fear and mistrust, most states had declared marshal law while the upper circles apparently struggled for power. But for what reason, and to what end, no one knew. Misato looked shocked at the news, she had heard reports but it sounded much worse from the accounts of three young adults. She mused aloud at what depth the SEELE organisation really ran around the world. The five turned and looked at her, not knowing much about the organisation called SEELE.

Soon however, Suzuhara pressed Shinji to continue his battle accounts and all listened as Shinji gave a graphic and elaborate description of the previous day's events. All listened, as none of the pilots had really discussed it yet. Even Asuka was impressed with Shinji's tale of his and Rei's exploits, turning to Rei at one stage to ask if it really happened that way, to which she nodded. Then it was Asuka's turn, simply saying that she had regained consciousness (a quick gloss over) and found herself in her Eva at the bottom of a lake. She then gave an equally impressive account of her performance until Shinji's arrival, continuing on to tell about their combined exploits. Shinji noted that she didn't try to play up her own contribution and even gave him some complements during her retelling, affording him a few smiles. At the end Shinji asked Rei about her separate fight, compared to the enthusiasm of the other two Rei's retelling was short and completely unenthusiastic, though compared to her usual answers it was an accurate, if brief retelling. Misato interrupted to embellish a bit, painting the picture of a guardian angel protecting her troops, apparently captain Muyo had given a glowing de-brief and the entire division was referring to Rei as their Guardian Angel. Everyone including Asuka praised Rei for her efforts. After this the girls (meaning Asuka, Misato and Hikari, with Rei listening) started to discuss clothes while Shinji went into the finer details of the combat for Suzuhara and Toji.

Soon however they found themselves at their desired location, it was a picturesque town situated in a valley with a small river running through it. With a population of only about 6000 it was a bit of a tourist town, but the large Sunday market made the influx of people considerable. The recent events however meant that the crowds were not particularly large and Misato found a parking space easily. They all jumped out of the car excitedly, stretching in the basking sun, even Rei managed a smile, it really was a beautiful day. The market itself was a sprawling mass of tables in the central square, the setting was perfect, with the tree lined banks of the river on one side and a mixture of shops and cafes on the other. Asuka quickly lead the way, prompting Hikari, Rei and Misato to follow. Rei nodded slightly to Shinji and turned to follow.

Rei now turned away, Shinji noticed Hikari doing some similar silent communication with Toji, though before she turned she noticed Shinji looking and blushed slightly before making her way behind Asuka. Shinji turned to Toji who was trying to look innocent.

"Well looks like we're off already, you boys don't go wondering too far" said Misato, happily walking past the three boys.

"Have fun Misato." called Shinji after her, then turned his attention back to Toji. Waiting until Misato was out of earshot, he said with a devious smile.

"I do believe our dear friend Toji has something he wishes to tell his good friends about himself and Hikari." he said coyly.

"I don't know what you're talking about." said Toji defensively, turning slightly red.

"Oh come on Toji it is sort of obvious." said Kensuka coolly, while fiddling with his camera.

"Yah Toji spill the beans" Shinji said. They walked over to the riverbank, leaning against the railing under the trees and watched the river flow by below.

"Sooo?" prompted Kensuka with a smile, he was enjoying his friends unease.

"Well it just sort of happened… ok" said Toji a little angrily.

"AH Ha! You and the class rep! " said Kensuka. " So have you kissed her yet?" he continued, goading his taller friend.

"Maybe" replied Toji, a little quickly. Shinji and Kensuka traded large smiles, even Toji was smiling now.

"So how was it?" asked Kensuka, calming down a little.

"It was…… nice" Toji said a little embarrassed. All three chuckled at their own thoughts.

"You're a lucky man Toji" said Shinji "Hikari is a lovely girl"

This was somewhat more mature then the three were used to, and it knocked the silliness out of the air for a few seconds.

"So how long have you two been serious?" asked Shinji in the spirit of the new mood.

"Well…… while I was in hospital, she visited me a lot and helped with my rehab, you know." replied Toji.

"Yah she seemed to be there a lot when I came to visit, always bossing you around saying how you had to recover to get back to school." interrupted Kensuka.

"Yah… well, later she came a lot when you were not there" continued Toji, a smile appearing on his face. "And you wouldn't believe it, but when it's just the two of us she's very different, all caring and such." he said, staring lazily in the direction of the girls.

"And then one day when we were in the garden, it just sort of happened. That was about a week ago." he said finally. The slight pause finally broke the spell of the serious mood, and a mischievous grin returned to Kensuka.

"So you and the class rep ha? Well that's it for you in class now, its going to be all, yes miss Hikari, sure thing miss Hikari" said Kensuka in a mock girlie voice. Shinji laughed, and added his own comment to the fray.

"Under the thumb, ha ha ha" he laughed mid sentence "And the biggest thumb of all!" finished Shinji then continued to laugh. Toji, brought out of his thoughts, grabbed Kensuka in a headlock and rubbed his scalp viciously with mock annoyance and soon the three were gallivanting noisily.

Over where the girls were standing Hikari just made out the ranting of the boys over the buzz of the crowd. She turned to see Shinji wrestling with Toji in an attempt to free Kensuka. The sudden thought of the three stooges talking about her made her go a deep shade of red.

"Boneheads" she said to herself. Asuka, who was standing nearby inspecting a jumper, turned to her friend with an inquisitive "Hmm".

Following Hikari's line of site she spotted the boys off in the distance.

"So the three stooges reunited once more." Asuka said, though there was only mock annoyance in her tone. Hikari, startled that anyone noticed her comments, looked down quickly.

"Yahh" she managed simply, though her tone and poise gave her away, Asuka knew something was up, and went to the most obvious choice of discussion.

"So how is Toji doing" she asked innocently, though eyeing her friend carefully. Hikari flinched at the name and hesitated in her response, that was enough confirmation for Asuka who turned to see were Misato and Rei where. Misato had spotted some hats and glasses and was making Rei go through each possible combination. Asuka quickly grabbed Hikari and lightly dragged her off to the side a little so that they could talk.

"So" said Asuka eagerly, "have you kissed him yet?"

"Asuka!" responded Hikari in a shocked voice, though soon after she turned red, with a shy smile on her face.

"We've kissed" she whispered, her face redder and her smile bigger then before.

"And?"

"It was …. nice" she said finally.

Asuka then continued to press Hikari for information, getting out many details of the developing relationship, she even managed to keep her criticisms of Toji down to a minimum, something unexpected but pleasant for Hikari. They didn't have much time, but after five minutes Asuka ended the discussion with.

"Well I hope he knows how lucky he is, that bonehead had better treat you properly" she said with a smile.

"Don't worry, if he doesn't, I'll give him a bop on the head!" Hikari replied, giving one of her best class rep poses. The two girls giggled to themselves as they went back to find Rei and Misato. They returned to find Rei wearing a petite French beret and a small pair of rim-less round sunglasses.

"Misato?" said Asuka flustered "Can't I leave you alone for a second"

"What" replied Misato innocently "I think she looks great."

"Do you not like the hat" asked Rei quietly. Asuka put her hand on her chin and gave Rei a once over.

"Actually on you, it's not bad" Asuka said "But from now on me and Hikari help decide, otherwise Misato's going to have you look like some damn French poet!" she finished. Misato gave Asuka a quick dirty look and all four continued to shop happily. And so it continued for the next 2 hours, the girls steadily made progress, utilising some portable change rooms to have Rei try every combination.

During the same time the boys went off to explore the town, it wasn't very large, though they did find the start of a walking track up to a nearby hill.

They returned to the market place, Shinji leaving Kensuka and Toji to look over some electronics while he looked for the girls.

He found them with Rei standing in front of the other three, showing of the latest combination, a nice simple summer dress with a small cardigan. The three sitting females were looking on with a professional eye and Asuka instructed Rei to spin around. Rei complied but stopped as she caught Shinji's eye. Rei looked exhausted, unlike the other girls shopping did not appear to be her cup of tea. Shinji gave her a pleasant smile, which seemed to pep her up.

"So what to you think Shinji?" she asked pleasantly.

"You look very nice" Shinji replied with a smile. Rei smiled and turned back to the three girls.

"I would like to have this dress" she said simply, but sweetly. Asuka, annoyed by having her vote overridden by Shinji let it show a little in her expression, but after two hours she was also beginning to have enough.

"Good choice Rei, I agree" she said in the end, Misato and Hikari nodding in agreement. Shinji having noted Rei's earlier expression approached Misato.

"Would it be O.K if we had lunch now Misato, we found a lovely cafe up near the bridge" he said looking down at his watch. Misato also looked down, not realising how much time had past.

"Sure thing. Ritsuko is meant to be meeting us in half an hour anyway" said Misato. They gathered together Rei's new wardrobe, Asuka making Shinji carry the lot to the cashier. There were about 3 complete outfits as well as some other items. Rei stayed in the summer dress and soon the new and old clothes were bagged and payed for. Shinji was glad to see Toji and Kensuka again, giving 1/3rd of the bags to each of them. Grumbling the boys led the girls up the river to the cafe they had found just across the bridge. All gratefully settled down at a table outside near the riverbank. They let out a small sigh as they finally sat down, even Rei. Misato called Ritsuko to tell her where they were, and soon the waiter came to take drink orders. Soon the air around the table was filled with idle chitchat as they waited for Ritsuko before ordering. The atmosphere was surprisingly friendly (especially considering Asuka and the three stooges were on the same table) but Asuka was mellow today, and the three boys were not quite as silly as normal, so the atmosphere remained civil.

Some things covered in the light conversation included Shinji asking Hikari what cooking she had been up to, and Asuka even discussing the town layout and the hiking track the boys found with Toji and Kensuka (much to their own surprise). Even Rei was relatively chatty, having regained some energy after the shopping experience. The pleasant atmosphere at the table was from everyone's point of view, totally unexpected. Granted a lot had happened over the last few months but the changes seen on this table were, to say the least, a pleasant surprise for everyone. Mostly all were still themselves, though now they appeared to consider the others on the table a little more, either toning down their own undesirable habits or being generally a little mindful of their comments, or being forgiving towards others. Misato sat back and watched the children in front of her chat away, smiling to herself.

'It was about time they grew up!' she mused to herself.

About twenty minutes later Ritsuko arrived, just in time too, they were all hungry and ordered immediately upon her arrival. She greeted all, remembering the faces from Misato's party, she scanned the table, lingered on Shinji and Rei who were sitting next to each other. She appeared in a good mood, and asked Toji how his recovery was going. In their discussion it came out that Ritsuko had had much to do with the fitting of Toji's prosthetics, and proudly they both pointed out it was the most technically advanced set of prosthetics in the world. It was capable of simulating 80 of the limbs original function without any undue stress to the host, and only requiring maintenance every two months or so. All were most impressed and Shinji somewhat relieved his friend could still lead a relatively normal life. The food was fantastic and soon all settled down, content to enjoy the mid afternoons going's on. Misato and Ritsuko began to chat about work, though Shinji could tell that they restricted their discussion occasionally because of the company. The good mood on the table was beginning to strain a bit as Asuka's patience with Toji and Kensuka began to ware a little thin.

"Misato?" said Shinji suddenly.

"Yes" said Misato, interrupted from her conversation with Ritsuko.

"I was wondering if we" he indicated the boys "could go on that walking track we found up to the hill near by…… and perhaps if the girls have had enough of shopping?" he gave Rei then Asuka a quick smile. "they might like to come too."

Misato looked at him for a second.

"Sure thing, just make sure your all are back here by four p.m. ok" she said with a wink. The boys got up to leave. Shinji looked back at the girls.

"Well, are you girls coming?"

Asuka looked over at Rei then Hikari, both looking back at her expectantly, she knew why, but then again, the prospect of more shopping didn't thrill her either. Plus she was up for a bit of exercise.

"Well I suppose someone has to make sure the three stooges don't get lost" she said with a sly grin, and all of them got up and made their way off, leaving a grateful Misato and Ritsuko behind.

The trip up the hill was lovely, there were many small blooming gardens and temples on the way as well as some ponds. Originally the groups were segregated but about fifteen minutes in Shinji dropped back and Rei caught up with him, the two talked about Rei's shopping experience. They walked like that for the next twenty minutes, the two boys now way in front and Asuka and Hikari just behind Shinji and Rei. Towards the top the going was a little tough and the conversation slaked off as they all concentrated more on breathing. Finally they came to the top, a medium sized clearing in front of a small but impressive temple which had a rocky outcrop behind. It consisted of a fantastically manicured lawn surrounded, and interspaced, with fountains, ponds and ornamental plants. The clearing offered fantastic views of the surrounding countryside. As the four got onto the main lawn they looked for the other two, whom they had not seen in the last eight minutes or so. Shinji spotted Toji over by the temple, sitting by a large pond. He called out, asking were Kensuka was, to which Toji replied he had gone to climb the rocky outcrop. Hikari automatically moved to go to Toji and didn't originally notice that no one followed her. She turned to see the three eyeing a patch of nearby lawn. Asuka turned to give her a smile.

"Well go on." she said simply, Shinji also gave Hikari a smile, which made her blush a bit but she smiled back and made her way to Toji. Shinji made his way over to a shady patch under a cherry blossom tree and collapsed onto the grass. Rei and Asuka soon followed, sitting on a bench nearby, Rei sitting proper, knees together, Asuka slouching, limps splayed.

"So Hikari and Toji finally got together" Asuka said, emphasising the 'finally'.

"I hope he knows how lucky he is" she added. There was a pause, birds chirping nearby, Rei turned to look at Hikari and Toji in the distance, he had his arm around her.

"I think he does" said Shinji calmly, his eyes closed.

"So how long have you known?" asked Asuka.

"He spilled the beans just after we arrived." replied Shinji. "And you?" he added innocently. Asuka looked at him for a second before answering.

"Not that it's any of your business but she confirmed to me today as well." she said, leaning back, staring over in their direction, adding. "But she's been after him for quite some time, not that I understand why."

Shinji chuckled a bit to himself.

"I think it was a bit of a surprise for him… I don't think he had any idea." Shinji said.

"I do not understand" said Rei suddenly "They never gave the impression that they had any affection for each other, in fact at school it appeared quite the opposite." she added.

"Well that's the proof isn't it" said Asuka. "She couldn't show she cared, so it came out in other ways" there was a slight pause as they all digested that, and suddenly Asuka turned red, adding quickly "But that's not the case in all circumstances."

Shinji, on the ground, kept his eyes closed but smiled a little, he swore he could feel Asuka's eyes boring into him from her seat.

"It does not make sense, if you care for someone you should simply show it" said Rei evenly. Asuka turned to look at Rei.

"Are you stup…" she cut herself off, frowning a little at one of her old comments that almost came out. "You can't do that!" she continued instead "What happens if they don't like you back, it would be so…. embarrassing!"

"Affection does not require reciprocation." said Rei evenly. "It is simply the projection of your feelings to another being" she continued. Asuka gave Rei a slightly confused expression but gave her response some thought, Shinji meanwhile listened intently.

"Yes but _how_ you express that affection may make the other person uncomfortable" she said finally.

"I am not sure why that would be so" Rei replied, looking at the grass, a slightly confused expression on her face. "It is only recently that I have allowed myself to have these… feelings" said Rei. She looked up at Ikari.

"Shinji have I made you uncomfortable?" Rei asked. Shinji's eyes snapped open, he had not expecting the question and was momentarily at a loss, reverting to his old self.

"Well I….. umm … um … well" though then he snapped out of it.. sort of.

"Well, it was a little un-expectant, but it was nice" he said finally, in an almost calm voice. He looked over at Rei and Asuka, both looking back at him. For reasons not even really known to himself, he shrugged a little while exchanging glances with Asuka, who was looking the slightest bit annoyed. Asuka turned back to Rei.

"Well I'm afraid we're all a little bit more complicated then that" she said evenly "Shinji here is not a good example of your normal person" she gave him a wicked smile "I wouldn't go around kissing everyone just because you feel like it" thinking for a second Asuka added "And definitely don't kiss me" Rei looked back at Asuka.

"I am aware that it is inappropriate for me to kiss other girls or adults" she said calmly. "Naturally I do try to consider others when I can" she said, continuing to maintain her gaze on Asuka. Her gaze dropped slightly.

"Though I admit that my experiences are limited." she said, a slight hint of negativity in her voice. Asuka looked at her for a second.

"Well don't worry about it first, you have any question, you just come to me, I'll set you straight." she said reassuringly. Shinji wasn't so sure about that last comment but then again he had no reason to doubt her. Turning on his back he placed his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, a small smile on his face. Meanwhile Rei gave Asuka a neutral, almost doubtful look, though then her expression softened slightly and she smiled a little. She got up, making her way over to Shinji on the grass.

"It is a lovely afternoon" she said off hand. Rei then found a place slightly in the sun and after checking the grass she lay down placing her head on Shinji's chest. Shinji, not overly surprised, only opened his eyes for a second. However a few moments later he opened them with a start as he felt another head on the other side of his chest. He raised his head to look down to see Asuka.

"Well, who would have guessed that Shinji was actually good for something" Asuka said slyly, she was ignoring Shinji but paying close attention for any reaction from Rei. Shinji looked across at Rei who did not appear disturbed in the slightest. Asuka obviously content with this little experiment ignored Shinji and closed her eyes. Shinji gave up, at least he wasn't in too much trouble, and the two girls weren't too uncomfortable. He sighed to himself and lay his head back down. 'Interesting days' he thought to himself, dozing in the sun. And so it stayed for the next twenty minutes or so as the three Eva pilots looked, for once, to be at peace together.

Meanwhile back down at the cafe, the mood was not indusive of dozing. Misato was all ears as Ritsuko told the little she had been able to find out about the past few days events, specifically what she believed happened to Gendo during the black out periods during his time in unit 01. Unfortunately she had not been able to do much as the JSDF had restricted NERV personnel movement as soon as they arrived. Obviously they weren't about to trust Gendo before they were completely satisfied with his answers. She did find out however that the combination of the three AT fields in that particular combination had resulted in a high pitch energy distortion, similar to the ray the 15th Angel had used against Asuka to effect her mind, though in this case an un-directed version. Apparently the energy burst associated with the three way AT field had expanded with the pulse. Thus, only remaining relatively localised. It did however, temporarily effect all minds in the local area resulting in the lapses (and dreams) that everyone had experienced.

"So that's what Asuka experienced" stated Misato.

"Well not really" replied Ritsuko. "The version we received was more intense but not manipulated, Asuka's mind was deliberately attacked, our minds were simply exposed to a general version of what was used against Asuka." Ritsuko answered. "Also Asuka was forced to remain awake, I suspect that us becoming unconscious was our minds self defence weapon. Asuka however did not have that luxury." Ritsuko finished. She took a sip of the coffee she was holding.

"Hmmm not bad" she said softly, enjoying the coffee.

"Do we know exactly what this things effect has on our mind? Not to mention Shinji's or Gendo's? There has been some massive changes in those two since their experiences in the Eva, are we sure they're still in control?" Misato asked, her voice harsh because of the subject matter but still caring.

"Well, what did you dream about Misato?" asked Ritsuko innocently.

"What?" Misato responded, shocked, though she knew the discussion would turn to this sooner or later. "Ah well…. It was mostly my life… what I've experienced, and the people I've met. There seemed to be another version of me in there, and a lot of talking and reviewing of…" she paused, framing her next words more carefully "decisions I have made, and other personal things" she finished up. Looking down a little shyly, though quickly she looked back up at Ritsuko.

"And what did you dream about?" she asked.

"Much the same as you I would think." Ritsuko said, in her usual over innocent voice.

"Everyone I've talked to about it has given a very similar account. Though no-one wants to go into the specific's about the nature of their personal experiences." Ritsuko said with a wry smile.

"It appears that it is a mechanism for self analysis, a seemingly detached version of yourself, unclouded by the weight of your experiences, analysing our past actions and motives in their given situation." she continued. "Something that may be very hard to hear for some people" she added, looking at Misato over her coffee. Ritsuko was allowing herself to get a little to smug in Misato's eyes.

"Probably all" said Misato, holding Ritsuko's gaze.

"What about Gendo?' asked Misato. "The changes in him are massive, he's like a different man."

She noticed Ritsuko flinch at the name and her gazed wavered and broke. Misato was surprised, it was very rare that her old friend showed any signs of uncomfortableness openly. Something was up, though for once she decided that she should tread carefully.

"What's the matter, Ritsuko" she asked in a caring tone. Ritsuko regained her composure and looked up the valley, staring at some distant object. Misato let her have her time, taking a sip of her drink. There was a pause for about twenty seconds, then Ritsuko spoke evenly and slowly.

"You know that I am not one to talk about my personal life"

"Gee, do I know that, you haven't told me anything since the day we first met" Misato said with a big grin, though then she made the connection between the last two exchanges, and her happy face changed to one of shock.

"You" she stammered. "and the commander?"

Misato was shocked.

"How long?" she asked.

"For about 3 years" Ritsuko said simply. Now that it was out in the open she appeared to be more at ease with the topic.

"And in that time, just occasionally I have been able to get a glimpse of what makes him tick, a sample of the real Gendo Ikari."

She turned to face Misato who still had the same shocked expression on her face. "Don't get me wrong he was still that driven determined man that you know him as, that was what attracted me to him in the first place" she said with a smile.

"So, the short of it is that he is still the same man after the incident, I can see that, though his decisions and actions are now no longer affected by his past it seems" she finished up more quickly, recognising that she was letting on to much.

"What about all the things he did to you?" asked Misato still shocked "Only a week ago, I mean only yesterday you were scared to be around him! How could you be with such a man!"

Ritsuko however was remaining calm, she had obviously thought about this revelation before.

"I never said I had good taste in men" she said simply, with an ironic smile "Unfortunately the same thing that attracted me to him in the first place was the thing that allowed him to treat me so badly."

"I was a fool to think I could change the man he was." her face turning to a more stony expression, she continued "My own past demons and stubbornness made me blind to what was happening." she paused. "But the small pleasures received from that relationship is what I used to keep going…… was I not entitled of a little happiness?" she asked, her posture now more demure, that last outburst had been a little unplanned and more revealing then Ritsuko had intended. Misato looked at her friend.

"I'm sorry I raised my voice Ritsuko" said Misato, softly looking at her friend. "It looks like we all learned something from our two little experiences."

Ritsuko looked up at her again.

"Immediately after the incident" she continued, now gaining her composure. "The commander called me into his office….. and he apologised to me?"

Ritsuko could still not really believe her own words. "Apparently during his experience he was forced to not only see, but, to accept all of his previous actions. He said that he would try to right some of his previous wrongs, as much as he could." she lowered her eyes again. "Though he said he would understand if he could not be forgiven for his past actions." she finished up, staring at her cup in her hand solemnly. Misato put on a more determined expression.

"Well considering his recent actions, maybe you don't have such a miserable taste in men" Misato said with a wry smile. Ritsuko gave her a look.

"We will see." she said, not convinced.

"Why is it that every key member of the NERV staff seems to have a history of deep emotional problems?" Misato said in a humorous inquisitive way.

"Hmph" grunted Ritsuko with a smile.

"They're the only ones crazy enough to work there" Ritsuko added, back to her old voice again. The two woman looked at each other, smiling at the ridiculousness of their own past. Both laughed simultaneously. Just then however Ritsuko's phone rang and she calmed down enough to answer it with only a semi-laughing "Hello, Ritsuko here"

Misato looked across to see her friend quickly snap back to her business like pose. It was Gendo on the other end. He asked if Misato and the pilots were there, and Ritsuko filled him in on the current situation. Gendo said that he and Fuyuzuki had been in conference for the last six hours, and that the council was now in deliberation, Gendo had been allowed leave, under supervision, while the council decided on the next course of action. As his future was still uncertain, he wished to meet up with them so as to explain the current state of events while he still had the option to do so. Upon hearing of their location he advised them to all stay there and to get accommodation, he would come to them as Tokyo 3 was still in a state of disarray. He discussed what he required from Ritsuko, some place with a small private conference centre, adding she should not worry about cost, as NERV assets were still not frozen. When asked about the other children Gendo said they could stay or go if they liked, whatever was convenient, he said he would be there in about three hours and excused himself. Ritsuko turned and relayed the information to Misato, they looked at each other questioningly.

"Well, it looks like we get to find out things sooner then we thought." Misato said, a hint of pleasure in her voice. Ritsuko nodded and the two continued to discuss various topics, they chose lighter subject matter, and the two old friends actually started to talk like two old friends.

Meanwhile back up on the hilltop Shinji was woken up by Kensuka's shouts, he looked across to see his friend up on the top of the rocky outcrop waving his jacket around. Shinji moved to get up and the girls responded, lifting their heads to allow him to leave, though Asuka mumbled something about being a useless pillow under her breath. Shinji got up, shouting back to Kensuka who said he had found a relatively easy path up to the top, and that he and Toji should come up. Shinji looked over at Toji who still had his arms around Hikari, Toji looked at her and she nodded with a smile. Letting her go he went over to Shinji and the two went off under the distant direction of Kensuka. Hikari made her way over to the still lying girls, and joined them on the grass. The three chatted away happily, lying in the sun.

It only took the two boys five minutes to join their friend up on the top, and the three sat there admiring the view for a while.

Eventually they came down and the party of six made their way down the hill. They returned to the cafe to find a note from Misato, telling them to call her phone, Asuka contacted her and found out the situation regarding Gendo. Misato and Ritsuko had found a local hotel with a conference room at some thermal springs, and the six were told to meet them there.

They arrived to find a beautiful hotel, built to look like some ancient temple, but renovated in the most modern ways. It was simply beautiful, with the thermal springs looking much like that one Asuka, Shinji and Misato had visited after the defeat of the 4th Angel. Upon discussion Toji, Kensuka and Hikari decided to stay the night, not wanting to give up the chance to stay at such a lovely establishment for free. They went off to ring their parents/guardians for permission. Ritsuko got six rooms, as Gendo had instructed, one for the girls one for the boys and one for each of the adults including one for Gendos _guard_. The hotel was relatively quiet and there was no problem organising the rooms. Soon the travellers were off investigating their rooms for the night.

The rooms were spacious, with TV, air-conditioning and luxurious private bathrooms, not quite as nice as the last hotel room he stayed in (thought Shinji) but that one was simply over the top, he thought with a smile. The NERV party was allocated two adjacent private hot pools, one for the boys one for the girls and soon everyone was out relaxing in the late afternoon sun, enjoying the thermal pools and picturesque manicured gardens. The five woman were in their element, though the three boys had to concentrate to ignore the fact that there were five gorgeous naked woman separated from them by only a single bamboo wall, luckily they soon got over it. They stayed like that till about 6 o'clock when Toji and Kensuka left to explore the hotel. Asuka, Hikari and Rei also left, with Hikari and Asuka discussing ways to fix Rei's hair. Ritsuko and Misato were dozing. All was quiet when Shinji heard the door to his thermal pool open. He looked up to see, to his surprise, his father, dressed in nothing other then a bathing towel. Shinji however didn't flinch, remarkably, calmly looking at the man he almost didn't know. Gendo was no-longer wearing the sling, obviously deciding the wound was not that serious, though his shoulder was still bandaged.

"Shinji" said his father.

"Father" answered Shinji calmly.

Over in the woman's pool there were noises indicating that someone had just fallen off a deckchair.

"Misato and Ritsuko are in the pool next to us". Shinji said, pointing with his thumb. Hearing Misato swearing under her breath, Shinji and Gendo smiled.

"Captain Katsuragi, I hope you're ok" called Gendo loudly. "Ritsuko, I must commend you on your choice of accommodation." he added.

"Thank you Gendo" replied the voice of Ritsuko, relatively calmly, almost playfully "I hope your conference went well" she added, returning to her usual tone. Shinji raised an eye, it was unusual for Ritsuko to use Gendos first name.

"It went as well as could be expected" said Gendo. Shinji's father came over and took a seat in the pool, leaning back on a rock and closing his eyes.

"Ahhh" Gendo sighed, something else unusual for him, for a moment silence returned to the pools.

"What do you think will happen to you? To us?" asked Shinji, interrupting the silence. He closed his own eyes and leant back. It was amazing how calm he was around his father now, totally inconceivable only a month before. This fact did not escape Misato or Ritsuko, who gave each other a mildly surprised look, though listened to the answer intently.

"Well, you are all safe, you were not in charge" he said evenly "You are also still too useful to the legitimate U.N forces. My fate however is a little less certain, if my usefulness outweighs my past actions, or the continuing mistrust in my motives, is yet to be seen"

There was a pause for a second, with the only sound coming from the small waterfalls continuously supplying the pools with fresh water.

"Though that will come out later tonight" he said softly. "As for now, I would like to do what I have been unable to do for some time now, simply relax" and with that he let himself sink into the water until he was completely submerged, raising again slowly and leaning back on the rock smiling.

"Major Katsuragi! Would you be so kind as to organise dinner, to be served in thirty minutes?" he called out over the wall. Misato, caught off guard listening by the wall, moved back quickly, giving away her previous action.

"Certainly Sir" she called back, giving Ritsuko an annoyed look while making her way to the door.

"I'll come to" said Ritsuko, loud enough for the males to hear her, and the two woman made their way out of the pool. Shinji heard their door close, and he and Gendo were left alone in the evening air. They stayed silent for about a minute, only a solitary bird breaking the silence with a lonely but beautiful call.

"It is a lovely evening" said Shinji finally, in a reflective way.

"It sure is" replied Gendo "And it's because of you that I am able to enjoy it at all" he added. Another pause.

"That was an interesting experience, the one we both went through" said Gendo, opening his eyes and looking at his son. "Though I wonder… How did you know that I would be able to come through?" he asked off hand.

"I wasn't." said Shinji simply "Though given the situation as it was" he opened his eyes and looked at his father. "It was the best course of action, and worth the risks… Given the alternatives" he said evenly but not unkindly. They held each others look for a few seconds, before Gendo broke off, smiling to himself and looking up at the sky. He chuckled slightly.

"I've underestimated you Shinji, your actions were… very commendable" he said finally, looking back up at the sky. Again a pause. his smile faded slightly.

"I suspect you know that fate and history will not allow our family to operate in any normal sense, even from now on" Gendo said evenly.

"I am aware of this now" Shinji answered thoughtfully. "I no longer have undue expectations, or indeed a need for them."

He paused for a second.

"Like you, I am now able to see others true intent somewhat clearer, and knowing this…. is enough for me" he said finally. He smiled to himself, appreciating his own words. He sat for a few more moments then made to get up.

"I will see you at dinner."

And with that he got out of the pool and put on his towel. Putting on his slippers, he was halfway to the door when he heard his father speak again.

"Shinji"

Shinji turned to face Gendo, who was looking back at him seriously. "As I am, I'm sure Yui is proud, and grateful for your actions" he said, then gave a weak but heartfelt smile. Shinji smiled back then turned to go to the door, he opened it, pausing before going through he said.

"Enjoy your bath." and with that, he left.

Shinji returned to his room, showered, and changed into his clean clothes. This hotel really was upper class, their clothes had been sent to the laundry to be ready for them after the bath, as they had no change of clothing with them, except for Rei. Shinji left his room and ran into Ritsuko who was walking down the hall. The two headed off for the dinning room, Shinji speculating about what strange menu Misato had probably concocted. Everyone else other then Gendo was already there, seated around a large banquet table. Shinji sat between Misato and Kensuka, to Misato's delight, Kensuka had been continually asking her questions about NERV and the Evas. Ritsuko took the place to the other side of Katsuragi. Soon the first course arrived, it looked like Misato had let the chef decide what to serve, the options were delicious and varied, even Asuka didn't mind. They were about twenty minutes in when Gendo arrived. Out of habit some of the NERV staff moved to stand, but Gendo quickly told them to remain seated. He sat next to Ritsuko and started to serve himself. Even though the conversation had not been particularly buoyant before it was dead quiet now. Pretty much everyone was still nervous around Gendo for many different reasons.

Shinji looked up and around, no one looked particularly stressed, but then again no one looked entirely comfortable either. Shinji smiled to himself, funny really, one of his oldest desires was to understand the man his father was. It had always appeared to him that he knew the least about his own father. Now it appeared that he was the only one who actually even began to understand the new man, while everyone else was incapable of separating the current Gendo from his past, a past they could not understand in any case. Shinji thought about how to best break the silence without getting into discussion about the subject to be discussed later.

"Well this definitely beats NERV cafeteria food" he offered. There were a few smiles at that comment "And its definitely better then Misato's cooking" contributed Asuka cheekily.

"Hey?" said Misato in a hurt tone, though Ritsuko and Shinji were suppressing a laugh. This broke the mood somewhat and Rei asked Hikari a question regarding the food, having discussed food earlier in the day, and Rei finding out that Hikari was a good cook. They continued to chat through the rest of the meal, with everyone listening, glad that the awkward silence had been broken. They finished up with desert, after which they made their way to the conference room. After a quick discussion with Gendo, Ritsuko, a little surprised, asked if Toji, Hikari and Kensuka would like to join as well, to the immeasurable delight of Kensuka. Soon they were seated at a long business table with proper chairs etc. Gendo sat at the far end with Ritsuko to his right and Misato on his left. After all were seated the room fell quiet, the only sound coming from the air conditioning vents. Staring at them in his usual pose, Gendo then lowered his hands and began to talk.

The explanation lasted for about two hours, the most informative two hours of any of the participant's lives, bar Gendo naturally. Even Ritsuko was unaware of the full picture, though she helped elaborate for a lot of the confirmed truths that she knew of. The audience was on a whole well behaved though there was some upheaval upon the revelation of Rei's Angel origin, though Shinji lead the way in reassuring her that this would not effect their attitude towards her, an opinion which everyone quickly echoed. This appeared to dissipate the one concern Rei had with the debriefing, as she treated everyone to a generous smile. The only other near incident came when Gendo elaborated about what had happened to Kaji. Gendo chose his words carefully and was obviously repentant, though Shinji swore that Misato was milliseconds away from loosing control for a few minutes. This all changed instantly when the biggest shock was revealed, Kaji was still alive! Misato almost fell from her chair and Asuka looked shocked, as Gendo described Kajis arrest and incarceration. Apparently he had been left alive for interrogation about his contacts with SEELE, he was still a captive while the JSDF figured out what to do with him. Gendo was quick to assure Misato that he had made every effort to facilitate his release. Misato looked like she would burst into tears for a while but like the true professional she was held out to the end. The discussion wrapped up with a few questions, mostly from Kensuka, though they were spot on and no one else needed to ask any. The only subject Gendo remained vague on was the exact nature of what had happened to him and Shinji within the entry plug. And Shinji, when asked, did not wish to elaborate either. After giving a brief description of the challenges to come Gendo was finally finished and returned back to his usual pose. After observing the stunned faces in front of him for a while he suggested they all get to bed, it had been a long day. Everyone was still in a relatively large state of shock and almost mechanically began to file out of the room in silence, lost in their own thoughts. Gendo asked that Rei and Shinji remain behind with Ritsuko, of the others Misato was the last to leave, she gave Shinji a reassuring smile before closing the door behind her.

Half an hour later Shinji and Rei were walking down the corridor back to their rooms in silence. They passed a small garden and Shinji asked Rei if she would care to sit and talk for a while, Rei nodded. They sat down on a small bench next to a pond, the moonlight illuminating a wonderfully mild evening. Rei automatically sat close to Shinji, though he backed away a bit so as to look at her.

"Rei" he said. "What do you think about what was just told to us, I mean to only us."

He looked at her evenly.

"I am not sure what you mean." she answered looking back. "Gendo simply stated that the person I was cloned from was your mother Yui Ikari, though genetically I am still mostly an Angel"

Her face did not reveal any emotions towards the subject matter at all.

"I had already become somewhat aware of the experiences of my past two lives through my interaction with you, she gave Shinji a smile, to which he couldn't help but blush, "Though the commanders descriptions did clarify a few matters" she said finally. She looked at him for a short while, Shinji's mind was racing with how to proceed, suddenly he simply said.

"Why did you kiss me that night after the dance?" he asked suddenly, now it was Rei's turn to blush. She looked away for a second though then returned to lock gazes.

"After seeing that other couple, I thought it was the best way to show you that I care for you" she said simply, there was a pause as Shinji again struggled to put a sentence together.

"Since I have met you I have changed so much." she continued "You have cared about me right from the start, even though you didn't have to, you are a special person Shinji Ikari"

She finished by giving him a shy smile. He looked at her for a second, his face a mask of concentration, then finally he came to a decision.

"Rei I care for you a lot as well." he said. "In fact it's only now that I realise how much I care for you, and in what way"

He took her closer hand in his and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"Even though genetically we are only distantly related, I want you to know that I have come to realise that I think of you as my sister, a sister who I will care for and support as long as she needs me."

He smiled at her, though his eyes were searching for a reaction, he hoped like hell that he had read Rei's character and emotional state correctly. His fears disappeared as she broke into a massive smile (the biggest he would ever see her give) and suddenly gave him a massive hug. He hugged her back, immeasurably relived at her reaction, and the two reflected happily towards their new future relationship.

About thirty minutes later Shinji returned to his room, Kensuka and Toji were already changed and talking furiously from their bunks, they stopped as soon as Shinji entered the room, Kensuke turned to Shinji.

"So what was that all about? Keeping you and Rei back, where there more secrets?" he asked. Shinji closed the door behind him and walked over to the other two.

"No, not really" he replied. "Just some personal stuff, you know"

"You and Rei, Ha" asked Toji slyly. Shinji gave him an odd look and burst out laughing.

"No… no not at all, I just found out she's pretty much related actually" he said calming down. Toji and Kensuka exchanged glances, this day just kept getting stranger and stranger. The topic moved on, and the boys talked long into the night about the days revelations. Over by the girls it was the same. Gendo and Ritsuko also spent a large amount of the night talking, taking a walk along a nearby stream and sitting for a long while in a moonlit garden. In-fact the only person not talking was Misato, who was out in the thermal pools garden with a bottle of saki, looking at the stars, smiling to herself. Though she did say one word to herself.

"Kaji" she said softly, a small smile on her face, a solitary tear falling down her cheek.

Authors notes:

The three together, as well as general group dynamics, it was good to show how they interact with each other; quite liked that section. A big sorry to all the Rei/Shinji fans, but you did get a bit of fun, to be honest I always felt that even though they would only be distantly related, if anything, a brother sister relationship would always work best, or at least in this case, where Shinji is no longer a quivering mess… Rei is such a kick ass character… Hmm so is it Shinji/Asuka? Will have to wait and see.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 2: Summer storm**

I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion, its just a fan-fiction, read and enjoy.

Some feedback to my reviewers: (thanks!)

Dennisud: Thanks again :-) Your right about Gendo being allowed a lot of movement. I sort of threw in a mention of a minder joining him on his trip, but for the story to move on I took a bit of artistic licence, lets just assume he had an exploding collar on his ankle that not even Ritsuko could crack! As for the U.N, the 'Asian' U.N forces were under the control of SEELE and fought the JSDF so there is no loyalty there. All of Gendo's original interrogation would have been to the Japanese government, and at that point they did not know who else to trust, but as SEELE was noted for deceiving everyone, the information Gendo had would have had, would have been great stuff, it's sort of explained in this section. I hope you enjoy the next part.

**2.2 "When my baby smiles at me I go to Rio… De Janeiro!" **

Authors notes:

A bit of a fast forward to allow for some character set-up and story development. More fun now between another possible combination, great relationship stuff.

Twelve months later, on the outskirts of Tokyo 3.

There was a sudden rustle from the bushes next to the path, causing a nearby young man stopped walking, observing thoughtfully. His eyes glanced upwards to track the immerging robins. Though his focus was intense, a side effect of his training, his expression was relaxed, enjoying this aspect of the beautiful springlike weather. Continuing down the path with a relaxed pace the young man allowed his senses the full enjoyment of his surroundings. The sun beating down, the slight breeze playing with his untidy hair, and the sound of ciccadas, seemingly as constant as always, even within the city limits, reminding him of many past events, many pleasant, and many not. Turning the corner he found his objective, a cafe overlooking the sprawling city of Tokyo 3.

Taking a seat on the veranda, under a shade umbrella, he remembered back to when this location had contained nothing but the edge of the road. And to the many times he had ended up at this location, usually to ponder some deep troubling thought, there seemed to be so many back then.

A smile crept across his face as he remembered his own mindset back then, angry, selfish, isolated and mostly, confused. He also remembered back to the situations this mindset had lead him into. The smile broadened, many may have considered this as sign of madness, seemingly taking pleasure in ones own past major mental flaws, and the difficult/painful situations it had caused. But closer inspection revealed an expression of calm and introspective, one achieved from a wise self analysis and a healthy dose of humility which gave the ability to find the humour in the situation.

"Humph!" he mumbled to clear his thoughts, he returned to the present, re-positioning himself in the chair to get a clearer view of the city,

'Again the only one on time, I wonder where they all can be' he thought to himself.

"Shinji" came a clear feminine voice, as if too answer his question.

Shinji turned to see the source of voice, a young woman standing at the entrance to the patio. Stunningly beautiful, with short blue hair, the same length as always it seemed, slightly more tidy than only a year before, though never completely in control, as if to be a marker for the past. She gazed at him with her soft red eyes, made warm by her inviting smile. She had grown into an even more beautiful young woman with her increased physical maturity, though Shinji always thought that this was possibly mostly due to her massive _growth_ in her personality, resulting in her now warm demeanour.

"Has anyone told you, you have the most beautiful smile?" he asked in a forced suave manner, as he razed to great her.

She blushed slightly, giving colour to her porcelain features, she moved to meet him.

They met in the centre of the Patio, both hands clasped and intertwined together in a friendly gesture, he looked down at her, smiling, now being almost a full head taller then the girl in front of him. She leant up placing a light kiss on his cheek.

"Sweet as always I see" she said softly giving him a smile. He moved back, making a place for her at the table, then sitting opposite her.

"Where's Hikari? I thought she would arrive with you?" asked Shinji politely.

"She decided to stay back and wait for Toji and Kensuka." replied Rei. "Their sports class ran overtime."

She placed her bag on the ground then looked out onto the city.

"Will Asuka be late?" Rei asked.

"Yah, she was still packing when I left" replied Shinji, also looking out at the city. It was a perfect evening with the brilliant yellow/orang sky giving the city a lazy atmosphere.

"Some things about that girl will never change" Shinji chuckled to himself. "Though she didn't complain _tooo_ much when I refused to help her finish."

"She has changed quite a lot in one year hasn't she" said Rei calmly, they both stared off at the skyline.

"I think we all have" replied Shinji, he turned to face Rei. "And for the better" he added.

"Well I think you can take credit for a lot of that" she said with a smile. Shinji laughed.

"I think we all can actually" he replied. Sitting back he started to think about all the events that had happened in the last year of his life.

At that moment the waitress showed up to take their drinks order, Shinji immediately ordered a lemonade, Rei though picked up the menu, and with her new found inquisitiveness, started to discuss the options pleasantly with the young waitress. Shinji leaned back and watched the two young ladies talk, though he then used the moment to stare out across Tokyo 3. Soon Rei had decided on a spider, then her and Shinji started to discuss their current living arrangements.

Much had changed in the last year, Kaji, after long internal discussions within the Japanese intelligence community was released and reinstated at NERV to help combat the secret service of SEELE. He, after all, had simply wanted the truth and after it was delivered to him by Gendo and Katsuragi to his satisfaction, he did not hesitate to pledge himself to NERV. He had actually proved immeasurably useful, using his old contacts to set up a counter network against SEELE. Most of his contacts were after all neutral in loyalty, simply wishing to attain the truth like him, and thus many turned to the new objectives of Kaji, now an agent of NERV alone. Kaji was thus however not often home which annoyed his new flatmate Misato somewhat. Misato, knew of his obligations and was herself extremely busy with the rebuilding and future endeavours of NERV. Thus the couple had to contend themselves with sharing each other's company when they could.

NERV was back under full steam, Gendo was reinstated as the head of the organisation, though a close eye was kept on him by various JSDF staff. Gendos personal life had changed little and he was as busy as always, though he had managed to spend a little time with Shinji and Rei, something which had turned out to be not quite as awkward as they may have expected. This had not been often however and the three retained a professional (if a little relaxed) attitude to each other at work. Gendos interaction with the rest of the staff had also improved, though the need for discipline made the day to day face of this unchanged. Shinji did however suspect that there was something between Gendo and Ritsuko, as Shinji had had glimpses of something more then just a professional relationship on some occasions when he had interrupted their lone conversations. Shinji always knew that he spent a lot of time with her, however the thought of them together had only formulated recently, 'Hmmmm' he smiled at the thought, something he may have to bring up the next time he talked to his father.

The upper structure of NERV had remained largely intact, and little changed for the pilots within the organisation's routine. Training and equipment changed dramatically however with the new focus on fighting Evas, and human forces, the true 18th angel. This was something which greatly bothered Shinji at first, though soon he had little alternative but to accept the reality. Evas remained the primary weapon on the planet, with new developments in battery capacity allowing for a combat operational life of thirty minutes, a great improvement. Their continued dependence of power cords however restricted their implementation. One of the scariest new developments was that of a small conventional projectiles based on the progressive knife. Made of the similar material as the progressive knifes it was now possible for projectile weapons to be tipped with this material and thus greatly effect the stability of an AT field on impact. This material also had greater armour penetration and though most conventional projectiles did not have sufficient kinetic energy to inflict any damage individually on great mass they were quickly able to degenerate the AT field and subsequently the armour. 'Death of a thousand pinpricks' was the term that now most scared the Eva pilots. The sourcing of this information by Kaji had prove critical and had allowed NERV to develop its own variant, greatly increasing its own capacity to handle enemy Evas. So now the Evas were no longer unstoppable by conventional forces, however their implementation was still supercritical for any victory.

The political situation had continued to degenerate after the revelations of Gendo and the misinformation campaign of SEELE. Japan and the rest of Asia had believed Gendo and demanded that SEELE be brought to justice. North America however had been swayed by SEELE and had been convinced that NERV was the instigators of this horrible plan for the downfall of man, Australia had followed and the two continents were adamant in their demand of the disassembly of NERV. The rest of the world had remained neutral, though the political mood remained tense. The three sides had no trust for each other and a cold war like stand-off had developed. SEELE'S network was immense and there was real initial threat that the neutrals would be swayed to SEELE'S point of view. This scenario was disastrous as the limited trade with the neutrals was essential for both sides. The cost to balance this situation had been high and had only been restored upon the free transmission of the new (progressive knife) projectile design to the neutrals, thus confirming NERVS non aggressive stance in giving the neutrals the tools to bring down any Eva acting aggressively against them. This act had been crucial and the German branch had announced its halt in operation until further review. This one act guaranteed the limiting of SEELE'S supply of high quality Eva components, as no other facility in the world now possessed the capability of the German and Tokyo branch, given the recent obliteration of the American second branch.

So now the stage was set. With its short term options seriously reduced, SEELE was on the back foot, and the continued counter intelligence activities of NERV were starting to erode the massive tentacles that were the SEELE'S secret organisation. It was only a matter of time until SEELE was exposed to all. Though would it be soon enough? Already a year had past and the deeper into the lies Kaji and the members of NERV intelligence went, the harder it was to unravel the lies to expose the truth.

At the last major briefing the commander had summarised the current situation well "A wounded animal is dangerous enough, let alone when it is cornered" he had said. So it was, that for the last year NERV had remained on high alert while NERV intelligence desperately tried to attain information about SEELE'S new plans.

It had been a tense time, Shinji mused, though not all the recent stresses had been work related. He smiled to himself as he remembered some of the more tumultuous time in his more immediate life. If life had seemed strange at work Shinji's home life had turned totally lopsided. It had all changed around him it seemed.

As soon as they had gotten back from combat a year ago it was organised that Rei should move into the apartment next to Misato's. This was no problem as most people had moved out during the recent turmoil, though they were starting to return already. Things were soon complicated however by the return of Kaji. The initial celebration had been a blast! With the party going well into the night. Even the commander made a short appearance, though at the end of the evening Kaji had stayed over, after he and Misato got completely lost in a drinking competition. This, staying over, had persisted, and Kaji had started to stay at Misato's regularly. Asuka had been considerably more reasonable then expected, though the situation grated her a bit, and after two weeks even Shinji agreed that the apartment was to small for four people. So one morning Shinji was totally surprised to hear Asuka announce that she and Shinji were moving in with Rei. Apparently Asuka had asked Rei the night before, to which she instantly agreed, Rei spending most of her time over at Misato's now anyway. It made sense, Rei's new apartment was as large as Misato's and only had the one occupant. Shinji was originally surprised that Asuka had included him in the move though she continued in her speech to state that she thought that leaving Shinji at Misato's alone would potentially expose him to bad morals, someone had to look out for him! Though she made it quite clear that before he moved in locks had to be installed on the girls' bedroom doors. Shinji and Misato rolled their eyes, it was after all classic Asuka. But without her old venom it was quite tolerable, even cute in some ways. It was definitely a strange idea, though the more they thought about it the more it made sense and soon the arrangements were made to the delight of Rei. In one weekend all the pilots were in the same apartment, with Kaji also _officially_ moving into Misato's place, though you really would not have noticed. And so a whole new chapter in Shinji's life had begun.

The new household Shinji had found himself in had a very strange dynamic. Even though the furniture was ordered to resembled Misato's residence to a large degree the new apartment simply felt different to the young man. Shinji was still by far the most organised and took over a lot of the chores, with the help of Rei who was eager to help where she could. Asuka did a lot of delegation though pitched in occasionally so that she made sure she couldn't be too harshly accused of being lazy. The three had gotten a lot closer, acting more like siblings now then anything else. In this role Asuka was the older sister, domineering the other two, while Rei was still aloof and quiet, Shinji in the end was simply trying to make the best of things, though he resisted Asuka quite well on a lot of issues. The two having some great arguments occasionally, with Shinji being the first to compromise, though ensuring that Asuka did too, at least a little. And so it soon became the case that the three were referred to as the triplets by Toji and Kensuka, and though Hikari originally disapproved of Asuka and Rei living with Shinji she soon got used to it, also gigglingly referring to the three as the triplets. As Kaji spent a lot of time away Misato ended up inviting herself over to 'check up' on the kids a lot. But even when Kaji was home Shinji simply prepared five portions for meals instead of four as Misato hardly ever ate at home anymore, while Pen-Pen simply migrated between the two apartments at will. There even was a permanent beer supply in the Eva pilot's fridge to avoid unnecessary trips back to Misatos apartment. Shinji's cooking had become very good, as Hikari had delighted in giving Shinji and Rei cooking tips whenever she was over. In fact the pilots apartment had turned into a bit of a halfway house, with friends constantly visiting at all hours. Asuka made quite sure however that only Hikari was to stay over at night, if Shinji wanted a sleep-over, he had to leave, as far as she was concerned having one 'Baka' in the house was quite enough!

And so life had progressed…… and though it appeared on the surface to be completely unsettled it was one of the calmest periods of Shinji's life, as stressful as life would appear to be he was the happiest he had ever been, and it appeared to be the same for the people around him.

Back in the present, Shinji had well and truly zoned out, so didn't notice Asuka walking up behind him. He let out a small yelp as he was grabbed from behind, his arms being pinned behind his back and his body forced back on his chair. He struggled for a second but then relaxed, waiting for a familiar voice, which said.

"Daydreaming again Shinji?" asked Asuka calmly. "All that self defence training and your still caught unaware"

Shinji looked over at Rei who was smiling slightly, she had become used to Shinji's and Asuka's interaction and had started to find them amusing, Shinji knew she would be no help at all.

"Considering we're always surrounded by NERV intelligence agents the only one I have to worry about defending myself against is you Asuka." he said cheekily.

"Well I suppose you're never going to be able to defeat me anyway, so I suppose your right to not even try" Asuka said in a mockingly agreeable sort of tone, though not loosening her grip.

"We'll see" said Shinji slyly under his breath, though too loud, as Asuka heard. She tightened her grip slightly, getting a small grunt from Shinji.

"Don't count on it second child" she said evilly.

"What is it you want Asuka?" asked Shinji calmly.

"Just want to know why you didn't help your fellow pilot finish packing?" she said in a hurt tone.

"It's not my fault you never learnt how to pack properly…Arg"

Shinji winced as she tightened again. Though she then released her grip and took the seat next to him.

"There are just no gentleman left" she said sorrowfully, leaning back into her chair. Shinji looked at Rei who was still smiling faintly.

"You're no help any more either are you" said Shinji to Rei.

"How do you mean" replied Rei.

"When Asuka assaults me now-a-days all you do is smile, I think you girls are ganging up on me.." he said with a smile on his face. Asuka poked her tongue out at Shinji, she and Rei had actually managed to get relatively close, irrespective of their totally different natures.

"She is careful not to hurt you too much" said Rei innocently "Also you both seem to enjoy it in some way" she took a sip from her drink. Asuka and Shinji turned slightly reddish at the last comment and an uncomfortable silence fell for a few seconds, luckily the mood was broken by the sudden appearance of Toji, Hikari and Kensuka.

"Ah the triplets sitting in relative silence, will wonders never cease" said Toji in his usual manner. For once Asuka didn't retort, grateful for a change of topic. She and Toji still maintained a healthy animosity for each other but it was more tolerable now-a-days. It did however usually mean the atmosphere of the group was usually very lively. The three newcomers sat down and ordered drinks, which were quickly delivered as the cafe was somewhat empty at this time of the day.

"So are you ready for your big adventure Shinji?" asked Kensuka after taking a sip of his drink. "I can't believe you get to go to Rio-De-Janeiro!" he said in a whining tone.

"This is the first time we have been away from Tokyo 3 in a year, and we're still on duty, I don't know if there will be any time to do anything fun?" Shinji said.

"You must be able to get out at some point surely" said Hikari "It would be such a pity to go all that way and not be ably to have a look around. It's going to be so exciting!" she finished enthusiastically, though remembering Rei, Hikari turned around saying "Oh.. Sorry Rei I didn't mean to make you feel bad about not going with them".

"Its ok" said Rei with a smile. "I drew the short straw, someone has to remain here in reserve."

Hikari wasn't completely convinced however and gave her a sad look, she knew that Misato was going as well, which meant that Rei would be on her own for the first time in a year.

"You promised that you would come around and teach me some new recipes, right?" Rei continued to Hikari.

"Sure thing, we also still have that school project to work on, I'll keep you company while those other two are away" Hikari said, peppering up a bit.

"This way I'll finally be able to teach Shinji something in the kitchen when he gets back." Rei said with a smile. Even though the three always cooked together Rei was never able to keep up with Shinji.

"Don't worry Rei we'll all keep you company" said Toji confidently "Its Shinji that I'm worried about, all alone with the demon girl for two weeks, how will he survive?" he finished off quickly, expecting a retort from Asuka. She however was not so quick to bite back now a days, remaining more controlled but just as sharp. After a flash of red crossed her face for a second she evenly said.

"Don't worry I'll take good care of Shinji."

Shinji gave a gulp, he knew that tone of voice.

"I would feel more sorry for Rei now that you've _threatened_ her with the company of two of the three stooges, she may have to move into NERV for two weeks just to stay sane." Asuka finished, smirking.

"Touche" smiled Kensuka. Toji was about to counter again when Kensuka interrupted.

"So your still not sure what the two of you are doing down there? It seems strange to split up the Evas like this, you're not told anything?"

"We're lucky we even know where we are going" said Shinji. "Its all hush hush, though given the level of activity at NERV it looks like it's serious."

The small group continued chatting on about this and that for a while longer, they ended up saying their goodbyes, all wishing Asuka and Shinji well.

The three pilots walked back to their apartment. Misato was waiting at her car, it was time to leave. Rei gave Asuka and Shinji a quick hug, they all knew the likelihood of combat was relatively high.

"Best of luck" Rei said simply, she managed to only look a little downcast, Shinji gave her a pat on the shoulder

"I'll bring you back something." he said with a weak smile. Asuka grabbed his arm and started to drag him off to the car.

"I'll make sure its in good taste." said Asuka with a smile. "Make sure you kick Toji out if he starts to annoy you, don't take any crap from those two stooges!" she called out to Rei as they got into the car.

"Good luck Misato" called Rei as the commander got into the car, Misato lowered the window and called out as they were driving off.

"See you in two weeks Rei, take care of PenPen for me!" she waved good bye out the window, and Rei returned the wave as they drove out off sight. She stood there for a second listening to Misatos car drive off in the distance. Silence pretty much returned and the wind played with her dress, solemnly she turned her head towards Misato's balcony to see PenPen watching the, now far off, car.

"Well its just you and me now" she said solemnly.

The flight to Rio was uneventful, though the amount of air-cover that was provided for their transports was astounding to Shinji. fifty of the latest air superiority fighters as well as three AWACS aircraft. Shinji took some photos out the transporters window, he was sure Kensuka would be green with envy when he told him about this experience.

Rio-De-Janeiro had been massively affected by second impact, as had all major cities on the coast, though due to the steepness of the hills immediately behind the old city, its citizens had been able to simply migrate up the slopes, so to speak, thus its geographic location had changed little. Also the demolition of the old lower buildings had allowed for a gradual slope up to the new coast, thus the New Rio resembled the old Rio significantly in geographical location and many place names had remained the same. Copacabana now stretched a little further, no longer separated by the Sugarloaf and surrounding hills, The Sugarloaf was now an island, with the old chairlift being re routed to cross the small expanse of new ocean. It was still a lively and passionate city and Shinji and Asuka were busy planing a sight seeing itinerary as they began their final descent into Brazil. Their destination was an old airfield about fifty kilometres from Rio. The Brazilin government had graciously allowed NERV the use of this as a staging area. Apparently the world opinion was polarising to either NERV or SEELE. South America was leaning towards NERV and Africa towards SEELE. Europe was the only region still professing strict Neutrality.

Finally back on the ground, Shinji soon discovered the reason for their sudden deployment when he and Asuka entered the make shift briefing room in an abandoned hanger. Misato and Fuyuzuki, as well as Makoto had already set up a small projector, and Maya was organising the software to start the briefing. The room was filled with senior NERV operations personnel, Shinji recognised a few of them. He and Asuka took a seat up the back, sitting on an old bench, the rest of the staff took the temporary seats provided. The air was hot and humid, it being relatively early in the day, Shinji looked out of the open hanger door at the encroaching jungle surrounding the airstrip. He was brought back to reality by Fuyuzuki, who coughed loudly to indicate the start of the briefing. And so Misato started, it appeared that conflict had broken out in central America, the fighting was only sporadic but most disturbing of all, forces had reported seeing Eva like creatures performing insurgence missions within the area. They appeared to be only probing missions. but the targets were key infrastructure links, and it looked as if they were setting up for something big. Also of great worry was the development by the enemy of a new jamming system, which made all but visual tracking impossible, this coupled with the hilly tropical terrain made it relatively impossible to defend effectively against the enemy Evas. It was simply too difficult to arrange sufficient firepower in one location to effectively handle an Eva, unless they committed to battle. So at night or during cloud cover, a daily event in the tropics, the Eva was simply unstoppable on hit and run missions, and all the local conventional forces could do was hamper there progress as best they could. Shinji and Asuka watched the maps as information toggled past. Misato continued, apparently NERV intelligence was sketchy on the objectives of this new action, though they had figured out that at least three Eva type units would be likely to be in Central America considering the type and amount of support units in the region. The engagement area was massive, stretching from Guada canal, the suspected staging area, all the way to central Colombia. It had been brilliantly planned, with temporary staging areas being formed to deploy the enemy Evas, and then to withdraw them just as quick. They had effectively cut off the entire region to land based movement and their objectives were still unclear. It was however clear that whatever was going to happen was going to happen in the next two weeks, though what that was, was unfortunately still not known. So there they were, the NERV Evas set up for instant deployment, into unfamiliar territory, reliant totally on their battery packs and the ability to be resupplied with new packs by their own forces. Shinji and Asuka gave a slight groan, continual readiness status meant that they could not go and see the sights. Misato ignored them and continued with the brief.

'kids!' Misato thought to herself.

Soon however the brief was over and only one question was asked.

"Why weren't all three Evas sent over?" asked Asuka.

"Because of the sketchy nature of this operation, we can't be sure that this is simply not a diversion, and even with the new projectile technology it is unwise to leave NERV guarded by less then one Eva." replied Misato. With no other questions the meeting room broke up and Shinji and Asuka were left to await further instructions. Eventually Maya came over and directed the two of them to a small building on the other end of the runway, it was a small barracks with high windows, to allow the heat to escape. Asuka and Shinji entered and threw their bags on the beds. Shinji, having carried his and some of Asuka's luggage. The room was small, containing only two beds, a desk, two chairs and two large foot-lockers. At the end of the room was an opening to the bathroom, which was old and dusty but still useable. Asuka had matured a bit in a year and no longer whined about her situation at the drop of a hat. Also having lived with Shinji meant that she generally gave him the benefit of the doubt about being a pervert, and only teased him in her old way on specific occasions.

"We will be provided with screens though I hope" said Asuka to the leaving Maya.

"There are some screen frames and material being brought over from the old infirmary" Maya replied

"Also don't drink the water, simply get bottled water from the canteen" she continued "Remember lunch is at 12:30"

And with that she left the two pilots to their own devices. They were in the middle of unpacking when the screens arrived, they positioned one in front of the bathroom and the other between the beds, leaving Shinji's bed exposed to the entrance. Soon the place had been made quite livable. Shinji lay back on his bed, listening to the stereo he had set up on a chair next to him, meanwhile Asuka finished folding her clothes away.

"Shinji, why don't you see if you can pick up a local station" came Asuka's voice from behind the screen.

"Sure thing" replied Shinji, leaning over to adjust the stereo.

"I mean if we can't go and see the country at least we can listen to a bit of it." continued Asuka, the annoyance clear in her voice. Shinji in the meantime fiddled with the receiver, picking up a number of local stations. While he was selecting a station Asuka came around the screen, sitting at the foot of Shinji's bed, Shinji moved his legs to make room.

"Wait, go back" said Asuka. Shinji turned back until he got a clear signal of the last station. A classic samba beat was playing fast and energetic.

"Yah that's the one" Asuka said smiling, her feet beginning to tap to the tune. Shinji moved over a bit so he could lie back down. He looked up at the ceiling.

"None of the advantages and all of the hardship… I mean we even have homework to do for the next two weeks or so" said Shinji lazily. He noticed that Asuka had also lain down in the space he had just made free, her feet were now next to his head. She taped his arm with her right foot, he looked down the bed to see Asuka leaning up with an expectant smile. Sighing, he took one of the two pillows he was leaning on and threw it at her head, though she caught it with no difficulty, and used it to prop herself up against the end-board.

"Thank you." she said sweetly. The two pilots lay there, end to end, staring up at the ceiling listening to the radio.

"Hmm.. this is the first time that NERV has been really split up" speculated Asuka.

"We have operated without commander Ikari and Fuyuzuki before" replied Shinji. "And Misato and Ritsuko for that matter" he continued.

"Yah, but never so far away from NERV, and never without clear objectives" said Asuka.

"It's a different world all right." mused Shinji. "And there I was thinking that fighting the Angels was the strangest thing that could happen to me"

"Yah" said Asuka "Just think about the fact that I'm actually lying in the same bed with a hentai like you, and I don't have to kill you for it is proof of that." she finished with a chuckle.

"Funny really" said Shinji in a slightly annoyed voice. "If I were to do the same on your bed you would very quickly kick my ass"

"That's a woman's prerogative." said Asuka airily "Anyway woman mature faster then men, your still not to be trusted."

Shinji laughed.

"What's so funny?" asked Asuka.

"Oh I just remembered something Kaji said" he said "Something about the fact that woman and men will never be able to understand each other"

"That's the way it should be" said Asuka confidently "Imagine how boring it would be if you knew what other people were thinking?" they lay there in silence for a while listening to the radio.

"I think I overheard Misato say that Kaji may be coming down here." she said eventually.

"Hopefully" replied Shinji "I haven't seen him in a month, and there's nothing else to do around here."

"Is that so" came the Mischievous voice of Misato, who had appeared in the open doorway "We'll just have to see about that, you two are needed for some terrain training, and after that I have to ensure that your school work doesn't suffer so your hitting the books!"

Shinji and Asuka let out a groan, suddenly having nothing to do didn't sound so bad.

"And what is going on here anyway!" said Misato teasingly, indicating their current position in the same bed. "Am I going to have to reorganise the entire camp to ensure you two don't get up to anything funny?" Misato finished with a wink, though then quickly had to avoid the two pillows that came flying towards her.

The mobile simulator they had brought along was sensational, Shinji and Asuka could train moving around the local hilly terrain and even moving around at night, getting a feel for the local landscape through its exact replication in virtual reality. The training lasted about four hours after which time they had dinner and then hit the books. This wasn't a big problem, as now Asuka had become quite capable of reading Japanese, (thanks to Shinji's and Rei's help) and so repaid the favour by helping Shinji with his homework where she could. Though her arrogant tone still irritated Shinji a bit, and his pride only allowed him to ask her when he was really stuck. Soon they fell exhausted into bed. And so it continued for the next two days. There was little for the kids to do, but they did manage to explore the compound and find some interesting animals from the nearby jungle. One of which made an uninvited visit to the pilot's barracks. On the third night Shinji almost died of fright when a screaming Asuka came racing out of the bathroom, colliding headlong with the bathroom screen and tumbling over it crashing naked on the floor. Only the screen between the beds saved Asuka's modesty and she was able to scramble to her bed before Shinji came racing around the corner. He quickly retreated after Asuka threw the book she had lying on her bed at him, though he was soon called back to remove the offending gecko from the bathroom ceiling. It was a while before Shinji could stop snickering though he did his best to not show it to Asuka, she was not a girl whose pride you even mildly offended, if you knew what was good for you. The next day Asuka's mood was still mildly dark, though it soon lifted as Misato came in with some un-expected news. That evening was going to be a full moon and the weather report showed two days of no clouds, which meant that there was little to no chance of an attack in the next thirty six hours. Misato had managed to convince Gendo of this and he had agreed to a twent four-hour leave pass for the pilots and the operations commander. They were going to Rio for the day! Both pilots had huge smiles on their faces and quickly ran off to pack for the day trip. They packed bathers and some neat casual attire as Misato indicated that they were going to go out for dinner. Without wasting any time the two were soon outside Misato's quarters, a jeep was already waiting outside.

"Come on Misato!" called Asuka impatiently. The two pilots stood around anxiously.

"No use hurrying, we have to wait for a NERV intelligence officer anyway" came the voice of Misato from inside her room.

"We don't need another babysitter" said Asuka angrily "I mean you're there, isn't that enough?"

"I hope he hurries up" said Shinji, looking down at his watch.

"I'm not the one you should be worried about when it comes to holding up progress" came a familiar voice from behind the two pilots. Asuka and Shinji spun around, and found a familiar face waiting by the a jeep.

"Kaji!" exclaimed Asuka excitedly. She raced over to her former guardian who was leaning casual as always against the jeep. He did however right himself to accept a hug from Asuka. Shinji also came forward. Kaji was dressed in shorts and a loose T-shirt and all three looked decidedly out of place in the military environment.

"Its good to see you again Kaji, where have you been?" asked Shinji.

"Oh here and there, you lose track after a while" replied Kaji, in his usual debonair voice, he was just as evasive as ever with his new work.

"You haven't called in ages, I bet you called Misato" said Asuka accusingly. Though she had improved massively concerning Misato's and Kajis relationship in the last year, she still occasionally enjoyed antagonising the situation.

"Ha ha" chuckled Kaji quietly "There exists a woman's wrath out there, who scares me even more then yours Asuka"

Misato appeared from the building, dressed in her tiny shorts and a revealing top, sports cap and small back-pack in hand completing the picture.

"Ah there is our alluring commander in chief now" said Kaji, smiling at Misato. She returned the smile for a second. Though she then put on a decidedly high and mighty expression and strolled up too, and past, Kaji, not even bothering to embrace him in greeting.

"Don't think I haven't heard what you've been saying out here" Misato said to Kaji as she strolled past to the passenger seat. Asuka and Shinji scrambled into the back, being totally non-plussed about the coolness between Kaji and Misato, the two were constantly at each other, or all over each other, it appeared they were quite incapable of a normal relationship.

"I speak only the truth, and you know I only mean what I say in the highest respect." said Kaji, getting in. Misato gave him a coy smile and they headed off, soon however, Misato leaned around to talk to Shinji and Asuka about the days program, doing this she let her arm rest on Kajis leg which he overlapped with his own hand, when not preoccupied with driving. Overall the incident was a classic example of their behaviour in public.

Asuka, as always, began to take over the itinerary, but as it was her and Shinji who had first developed it Shinji was quite willing to allow her to dominate. Kaji and Misato relinquished, only managing to alter two points of Asuka's busy schedule. Actually the two were simply quite happy to be together, and with Asuka leading the way they were reasonably sure not to be exposed to much of Asuka's lingering jealousy towards them as a couple. The terrain kept changing and soon they were on the highway to Rio. The outskirts of Rio had changed somewhat since second impact, it was no longer surrounded by slums (at least not noticeably so) and the majority of the city was relatively clean and orderly. The first destination was naturally Copacabana. None of the four were disappointed, the wide stretches of sand leading into the stunning blue ocean was a sight to behold, and as it was a work day the beaches were relatively uncrowded.

Soon the pilots were in the water, Asuka swimming out into the ocean while Shinji, still new to swimming, spent his time trying to body-surf the reasonable waves breaking near the shoreline. Misato and Kaji stayed back to guard their stuff (Copacabana having not changed that much) though looking back Shinji noticed the two were enjoying their time alone. Turning around he dived out into the ocean again.

After a while Asuka joined him closer to shore.

"So managed to catch any waves third child?" she asked swimming up beside him.

"They're not breaking clean, but I've caught a few." said Shinji, looking at the incoming surf.

He was standing with the water up to his neck. As Asuka was now almost a head shorter, she had to paddle on the spot, a fact that gave Shinji a small smile.

"Your just not doing it right, as usual" said Asuka, noticing his smile. It really annoyed her that he had gotten considerably bigger then her, she didn't like the idea of having to look up to him. He had also gotten stronger, though she still was the much more athletic one, one of the reasons she periodically attacked him, so as to confirm her continued dominance. As was usually the case with these two, the swim in the surf soon turned into a competition. Asuka caught more waves but Shinji had the great luck of catching the best one, Asuka having caught a wave just before. It would have continued but Misato called the two in, as her and Kaji also wanted to swim for a while.

Shinji was still grinning ear to ear from that fantastic wave as the two came in, Asuka however seemed less pleased. As Shinji sat down she announced she was going off to buy an ice-cream, Shinji placed a quick order before she got out of earshot and lay back down with a smile on his face. He knew Asuka would not like the request but wasn't nasty enough any more to deny him without an adequate reason. He lay there dozing for a while, finally looking up he saw Misato and Kaji still paddling out in deeper water. It had been ten minutes and Shinji was starting to worry a little, how long did it take to get ice-cream? He looked around, Asuka was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh well" he said to himself, he knew deep down that anyone who started anything up with Asuka would require the saving, not her. He looked around, the beach was still relatively well frequented and all around Shinji some of the best examples of human physique were to be found. Being almost sixteen now Shinji couldn't help but allow his eyes to follow the girls as they walked past. 'Toji and Kensuka would sure be jealous of this', he thought to himself. It was while his eyes were very obviously following the passing of a particularly lovely example of the female form that Asuka decided to reappear on the scene.

"Once a hentai always a hentai" said Asuka in her disappointed tone. Shinji jumped a bit, though then turned around to look at Asuka, who was blocking out the sun. She handed him his ice-cream, barley melted.

"Oh come Asuka… you can't say you haven't been checking out some of the guys on the beach" said Shinji slyly, deciding to go on the offensive. Asuka sat down next to him, looking out onto the beach.

"Being a woman means that I'm not so easily impressed by such things" said Asuka haughtily, she lent back on some bags and placed her hand behind her head provocatively.

"Anyway with such ample beauty close at hand" said Asuka obviously indicating herself "I would have thought you would have had your fill of looking at beautiful forms." she smiled, and gave a side glance to see Shinji's reaction. Shinji, eating his ice-cream, smiled but did not turn to face Asuka. She had grown even more attractive in the last years, matching Misato's hight and attaining a fantastic athletic figure, something she occasionally allowed herself to remind everyone. Shinji knew however that this line of conversation was a minefield for him, and he suspected secretly a joy to Asuka, and on many occasions he had quite innocently stumbled into very dangerous territory. Though at the moment he was still in an uncharacteristically aggressive mood.

"No not really" he said casually. Asuka stopped mid lick, shocked at the casual response.

"I look at Misato as a guardian now, Rei as a sister, and Hikari is out of bounds" he let the words sit for a second "So I don't 'admire' them in that way" again he paused for effect, casually licking his ice-cream. "And at the end of the day nothing is that beautiful that it's worth risking your life to admire"

He turned to look Asuka squarely in the eyes, this was less for affect then to make sure she didn't throw anything at him. Asuka, now-a-days, had more depth to her responses but at the end of the day was still subject to her moods, so quite capable of anything. She gave him a lovely smile and leaned back.

"Who would have guessed, even a hentai can learn" she said.

The day moved on, soon Misato and Kaji returned and they basked in the sun for a while. Asuka announced that she had found beach volleyball fields towards the back of the beach. And soon the four where playing, inevitably the teams ended up being girls vs boys as the competitiveness of the two pairs instantly showed itself. Kaji and Misato had not played in a very long time, but both were fit and fired up. Shinji and Asuka had played at School recently and not surprisingly Asuka had turned out to be the best player. The girls started off leading, while Kaji and Shinji orientated themselves. Asuka, aggressive as always, send some blinders towards Shinji, him already having a large red mark on one of his legs. Though this only inspired the two males, and soon they were in the lead. The game got more intense, neither side giving an inch, after a bitter struggle it came to a tie-break. At this stage Shinji was covered in sand, having to do many dives just to keep his side in the game, he was panting heavily. The next point went to the girls after a lucky play. It was match point to the girls, with Asuka to serve. As usual she sent a blinder towards Kaji, he controlled the shot and Shinji sent a wide shot towards Misato, she just managed to control it but sent it spinning back towards the boys, the point continued with good placement stopping either side from organising a spike. Soon however Misato was out of position, having sent a last ditch effort towards Kaji who stumbled to recover but fell out of the court, Asuka rushed to cover the shot, but got it back. Both Kaji and Misato were temporarily out leaving Shinji and Asuka. To get the last shot Asuka had left the front of the court open, Shinji decided to go for it! He dived forward to accomplish a drop shot, though doing this left his court completely open. Asuka reacted late, not expecting Shinji to commit, though she rushed forward throwing herself full stretch towards the ball, berley managing to connect she sent the unsteady ball back over the net. Sliding, she came to rest under the net next to Shinji who was still down, they watched the ball travelling through the air, it fell back to earth, just managing to slip in the lines, giving the girls the game.

"Yes!" yelped Asuka triumphantly, still lying flat. Shinji, leaning on his elbow, turned back to face Asuka. She had put her hands under her chin and was looking at him smugly.

"Still can't beat me can you Shinji" she said. The look of concentration he had had throughout the game turned into a slight scold though then it suddenly changed into a smile.

"Great game Asuka" he said casually. "It was worth losing just to finally see you have to dive."

He started to get up.

"Though before you get up I would advise you modify your bikini top."

Asuka suddenly froze, checking herself she found that the dive had loosened her bikini top and it had slipped completely out of position, not being designed for such activities, and if not for the fact she was lying face down would have exposed her quite noticeably. Face red, she adjusted herself before getting up. Angered she suddenly became relieved that she didn't immediately jump up to gloat after the girls victory. Angry, relieved and happy at the same time she didn't know how to react, finally standing up she saw Kaji and Shinji congratulating Misato, then Kaji turned to congratulate Asuka, giving her a wink and brushing sand off her shoulders. Asuka's mind gave up and she smiled. The four went back down to the water to wash off the sand, Asuka and Shinji joking and laughing on the way down. On the way Shinji happily took a bit of physical abuse and emotional torment, knowing that for Asuka to appease her ego he was 'due' some token teasing, something he now regularly took thus 'managing' to keep the peace. She had gotten better however and it was less of a chore then an unusual pleasure for Shinji when she was in such a mood now.

A lot of the day had already gone and after a quick lunch at a cafe the four began on a sight seeing tour. New Rio was a beautiful town, with many shops and sights it was a pleasant day of meandering, with Kaji and Misato perfectly happy to let the two pilots run off and explore. The two adults enjoyed each others company as much as the surroundings, Shinji looked back at the pair in-between diving into different shops with Asuka, they really didn't have that much time to see each other, he thought.

"Come on you! No time to gawk" yelled Asuka, grabbing hold of his arm and dragging him of to another market stall.

"Yaaa" protested Shinji being dragged away.

The end of the day found the four at the Christ, a giant statue of Jesus overlooking all of Rio. They were leaning on the railing, looking over the sprawling city, the sun setting off in the distance.

"So what are we doing for dinner?" asked Asuka, interrupting the silence. Kaji un-hooked his arm from Misato's and stood upright.

"Well I have a little surprise for you all" he said casually, all three turned to face him.

"I have managed to acquire a reservation at the legendary Shugerloaf restaurant! A table for four at eight PM." he said with a triumphant smile.

"Wow, how did you manage that!" asked Asuka enthusiastically.

"Oh I have my ways" said Kaji slyly. Misato moved up behind him, slipping her arms around his waist.

"So these are the type of connections that NERV intelligence has been working on the last few months" she said innocently.

"We have to come up with something tangibly useful occasionally" he replied.

"Not bad" said Misato.

"So where is this restaurant?" asked Shinji.

"Don't you know anything" said Asuka rashly. "It's only the most famous restaurant in the world" she pointed down to the now cut off island of Shugerloaf, the restaurant and other buildings already sparkling in the evening light.

"Oh what am I going to wear, I didn't bring anything good enough for a place like that!" exclaimed Asuka turning back to Kaji pleadingly.

"We will be fine with what you have" Kaji said reassuringly.

"Ya, don't worry Asuka you look fine" interrupted Shinji encouragingly.

"What do you know about style!" Asuka turned back to him angrily.

"Hey!" replied Shinji, becoming angry himself, he had frankly become sick of his compliments always being turned against him.

The two started to argue and didn't stop until half way to the restaurant. Long arguments between the two had become quite rare with Shinji knowing how to defuse most situation, tonight however he had decided not to take the easy way out. Though the argument was over it was an uneasy truce it was quickly forgotten however upon arrival at the sky cars that travelled up to the restaurant. The four were dressed in neat casual, the girls in skirts and tops and the boys in slacks and shirts, though it was obviously semi casual evening wear, and compared to the other customers the four looked rather ordinary. This didn't bother Shinji or Kaji at all, though Misato, and much more Asuka, were very conscious of their appearance, they had expected to eat at a much less flashy restaurant.

"Bloody males" Asuka muffled under her breath to Misato. Misato, just having noticed the elegant evening dress of the lady next to her, nodded in agreement. The four got into the sky car after Kaji showed the usher their reservation, Shinji and Kaji either not caring, or not noticing the ushers glare as they went by. Again Masato and Asuka soon forgot their initial reservations as the sky car lifted off into the night. The view was quite simply breathtaking, and only got better as they neared the restaurant. If that wasn't enough the restaurant itself was simply stunning. Almost sticking out of the rocky cliffs of the Shugerloaf the main restaurant was a massive three story high half circle of glass, with multiple level eating areas, seemingly hovering in mid air. These were connected to a central floor via stairs. The enclosed volume was immense, the steel frame holding it together shimmering far above Shinji's head. The lighting was spectacular, with elegant lights hanging down appropriately to cover each table with a soft light. The majority of the rest of the eating area remained relatively dark to allow the patrons to fully enjoy the unprecedented view of the city lights, below to the right, and the stars in the sky above. Each eating level was so placed to afford each patron a great view of the ocean as well as the city. They quickly went and found their table with three other groups on the middle level. Shinji took a seat affording him a great view of the city. Looking back down at the main floor he saw that it double as a small dance area with space for the band at one end, the bar along the wall and the entrance on the other. Looking around he saw that the clientele was a mix of all nations, everyone being dressed very elegantly and looking great. Shinji smiled, remembering the restaurant he Misato and Rei had been to a year or so before, he had quite a lot of luck when it came to restaurants. He and Misato exchanged a knowing smile, no mention had yet been made about the cost of that trip a year ago to Misato, apparently the records had been, misplaced… Asuka had largely forgotten her self consciousness and was enjoying herself again. Soon they had all ordered drinks and started chatting about the day. Dinner arrived and they all began to eat, down below the band had arrived and was playing light music while the patrons ate. Misato had convinced everyone to join her in a glass of champagne, and the four toasted their rather enjoyable day. The champagne had its desired effect, and the simmering hostility between Shinji and Asuka mellowed a bit. They chatted happily throughout desert and only stopped when Kaji and Misato suddenly got up.

"Where are you two going?" asked Asuka blankly.

"We're just going for a dance" said Misato happily, and the two went down to the main floor. The two pilots watched the couple go down, it was a slow song and the two were moving around arm in arm. Shinji returned to the topic at hand, though Asuka was mildly distracted. She still wasn't completely over Kaji and the champagne was not helping her resolve. She held out for a small while but during the next slow song Misato put her head against Kajis shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her, this was to much for Asuka who turned her head, eyes downcast.

"Is there anywhere else we can go to?" she asked, not hiding her emotions well. Shinji looked from the dance floor to her, a frown on his face.

"There is an open aired bar on the sea side of the rock if I read the map right" he suggested, she nodded. Asuka got up, moving quickly to the exit past Misato and Kaji on the dance floor, not looking up at either of them. Shinji followed quickly, giving Kaji a shrug of his shoulders on the way past, Kaji simply gave Shinji a wink and returned his attentions to Misato.

Shinji, a little bewildered, caught up with Asuka and led her to the sea side of the large rock. She was trying to mask her feelings with a joyful tone and Shinji played along. They arrived at a small cobblestone courtyard. One side was open to the sea, a small stone fence guarding a cliff edge falling 50m to the sea below. They had arrived from a narrow natural walkway between large stone formations opposite the sea, though further cliffs flanked the courtyard. Some large trees overhang the courtyard, fairy lights were strung from branch to branch and were the only source of illumination. Near the stone fence were some cast iron chairs and tables, each with its own candle. To the one side was a stone structure, it was open at one side and doubled as a bar, a single barmen was working behind via candle light, soft music playing from a speaker sitting on one side of the bar. Shinji looked around, other than three couples between the bar and cliff the barman was the only other person. It was actually one of the most romantic scenes he had ever seen. Asuka however was in the wrong mood to appreciate it, spotting a free table near the small wall opposite the couples and bar, she gave Shinji a drink order and made her way to the table, overhung by a willow of some sort. Shinji watched her go, then went over to the bar. Luckily it was connected to the main accounts system and Shinji was able to order the drinks from the table tab. He was surprised that he was given Asuka's request, being underage he was expecting a lecture from the barman after asking for two margarites, instead he simply produced two glasses filled with a sticky, colourful liquid, gave them to Shinji and added a smile and wink. Shinji, smiling, returned to Asuka. She was sitting, leaning on the stone wall and looking out into the dark warm night. His smile faded, he placed her drink in front of her, taking a nearby seat and followed her gaze out onto the ocean. They sat there in silence for a while, music, light chatter, and soft laughter in the background. Shinji sipped at his drink. Distorting his face, he gave the glass an odd look.

"Errg" he said.

"Shinji" said Asuka, taking her glass.

"Hmm" said Shinji, turning his head towards her.

"You love Rei don't you?" she said casually, still looking out into the dark. Shinji froze, though he had never discussed his history with Rei with Asuka he was sure Rei probably had.

"Um well" he hesitated, but then he thought 'I have nothing to hide' and continued with "Ya well yes I do…… as a sister."

The champagne was starting to hit home with Shinji as well.

"But she isn't your sister is she?" asked Asuka. Shinji absent mindedly took another sip, it wasn't so bad the second time around.

"Well genetically, no, she's more of a distant cousin if anything at all" he said "But that's the way I think of her" he took another sip "I think that's….. I think that's the best for both of us" he finished.

"And you can decide in what way you love another person?" asked Asuka, now facing Shinji. She took a sip of her own drink. Shinji looked at her evenly. Then looked back out onto the sea.

"Well yes, I think so" he said "A lot depends on the way you view things"

He remembered back to his experiences after the fight with Kaworu. "I care for a lot for people now a days, though depending on how I view each one I express it differently." he was serious now, but the alcohol was loosening his tongue.

"So your not attracted to some of them?" asked Asuka, she was quite happy with the amount of information she was getting from Shinji. Shinji wrinkled his brow a bit, this whole line of questioning was not going well, and he wanted to find a quick exit.

"Well of course, sort of" he paused for a second "After a while it's not an issue any more. For the people I think of as family, it just doesn't figure any more."

He was hurrying to complete this line of questioning "And I just have to keep myself in check with the others" he said though he raised his eyes and locked gazes with Asuka at the first part of that sentence. They stayed like that for what felt like awhile until Shinji realised what he was doing and kicking himself mentally, turning red and hurriedly averted his gaze. 'Damn!' he thought to himself, stupid champagne, at this stage he knew it was starting to have an effect. Asuka herself was a little shocked and uncomfortable due to that display, and she herself turned slightly red. She looked back out onto the ocean.

"And what about Mana?" asked Asuka, taking a sip of her own drink, she was now observing Shinji out of the corner of her eye.

Behind the two pilots one of the three couples had started to argue a bit and moved away from the group, standing closer to Asuka and Shinji, though neither of the two noticed.

"Mana… well Mana was a long time ago" said Shinji looking out into the darkness solemnly, he had not heard a word from her since their parting, despite his efforts to get information out of his father and Kaji. In his mind though he was incredibly annoyed with himself for letting something so personal as his reaction before be displayed, and quite frankly was becoming annoyed with the one sided personal questions.

"So you still have feeling's for Kaji?" he asked suddenly. Now this really was the alcohol talking, even though they had gotten close in the last year or so, Shinji had never asked Asuka a direct personal question like this, she had only opened herself a little to Shinji when she had wanted to. The two had had some pretty personal talks and he was quite happy with his progress, though he knew that his last question was stepping into a whole different arena. Asuka's natural reaction was to scold but she was taken off balance and couldn't get too angry quickly.

"I don't think that's any of your business" she said defiantly. Shinji knew he was in trouble but he felt it was time to go for broke, he had felt their friendships openness had been one-sided for a long time now and it had been building to this point.

"Oh come on Asuka" he said "Considering the type of questions you have been asking, and which I have been answering, I think I can expect a little openness from you." he managed to push out. He knew he wanted to say it though he was incredibly uncomfortable doing so, and if it wasn't for the champagne it would not have been possible. He kept his gaze on Asuka, in his expression was only minimal aggression, more uncomfortableness but determination. Confronted with this she hesitated, it wasn't like one year ago for her either, she wouldn't simply just start a tantrum, though at the moment she really wished she could.

"Fair enough." she said holding his gaze, but looking uncomfortable herself. Shinji relaxed a bit. "It's not that I'm not happy for Misato and Kaji…. Its just that" her eyes wavered a little. "Its just I've really cared for Kaji for such a long time…. It's difficult" she finished lowering her eyes and taking another sip from her drink. Shinji looked at her for a while, contemplating.

"There are many ways to care for some-one" said Shinji more evenly, a smile on his face. Asuka however was not smiling.

"And what about love? I'm not sure you know what love is." replied Asuka, there was some defensive venom in her voice, though her expression changes quickly to one of hesitation. Shinji however was taken a little aback by this comment and his emotions start to build despite his best efforts.

"I know what love is" he said defensively. "At least I know what it means to me" he avoided her gaze.

"Well if you did you definitely don't show it" replied Asuka, becoming defensive herself, though for what reason she was unsure. She leant back in her chair and crossed her arms. Behind Shinji the other couples arguments has also heated up. Still this was not apparent to the two young pilots lost in their own thoughts.

"Just because someone doesn't cry doesn't mean they feel less pain, and just because some-one does cry, that doesn't mean that they feel more hurt then someone who doesn't" replies Shinji eventually, but with conviction.

"You can't even try to understand another persons emotions until you try to understand them, they way they are" he continued, again pointedly. Remembering back to her own highly emotional views on crying, Asukas view on the conversation took a whole new personal level and thus she felt that Shinji's last comment was taken as directed at her.

"Have you tried to understand me?" she asked, her eyes narrowing, the conversation had become entirely too personal for Asuka and she was reverting back to her old cover, anger. However Shinji's next comment threw her.

"I'm trying my best, but its bloody hard when you won't let me see the real you… and keep attacking me every time I try" said Shinji quickly, his voice raised, and looking at her accusingly. Asuka was again off balance… Trying, wanting desperately to open up, emotions washed though her thoughts, uncertain, she again resorted her normal emotional response, aggression.

"Why should I open up to you! It's not like you could ever understand the loss that I have had." Asuka spat out in a raised voice. Shinji recoiled, shocked. Then however his eyes went cold, and he locked his gaze onto Asuka with a disapproving, hurt and disappointed stare. Asuka realised his new expression, finally comprehending the magnitude of her last comment, her expression became distraught, moisture apparent in her eyes as her mind worked through her last words.

"Shinji I'm …. I" she started. Just then however, behind Shinji the other girl had finally had enough, slapping her boyfriend loudly. Both Shinji and Asuka were surprised and irritated by the loud noise and turned to see what the matter was. The young lady yelled something in Portuguese then turned, running off to the entrance of the courtyard. The two other girls looked at their respective boyfriends and then followed. Shinji watched the lady run out then turned to look at the young man. Who rubbed his cheek thoughtfully, noticing Shinji's gaze he turned to face him, he saw the upset faces of Shinji and Asuka and with a thoughtful and defeated face he said to Shinji in broken English.

"I hope you have more luck with your girlfriend then I had with mine."

Shinji looked at him for a second, his own mind still awash with emotions from Asuka's last comments, he narrowed his eyes.

"She's not my girlfriend" he replied coldly in his own broken English. "She's to a self absorbed to let 'anyone' close to her" he continued bitterly, now in Japanese. It then struck him what he just said, his expression turned to one of shock and he swung back around to Asuka. To late, she was already half up out of her seat.

"Bastard!" Asuka yelled, getting up and running towards the entrance. Shinji jumped up, knocking his own chair over. "Asuka I didn't mean that! Asuka!" he called after her. But it was to late, she was already on her way back to the restaurant. Shinji moved to follow, though the young man put his hand on Shinjis shoulder, lightly restraining him.

"Let her go" The young man said knowingly. Shinji however was now too angry to be reasonable. He brushed the young mans hand off.

"If it wasn't for you that never would have happened, I was so close, so close! And now she's more pissed then ever." said Shinji desperately, again in English.

"I don't think it was any comment I made that made her feel bad" said the young man levelly. Though this only annoyed Shinji more, almost growling Shinji clenched and unclenched his fists. The young man however seemed still at ease.

"Look, I'm sorry for the bad timing, there is nothing I can do about that now. But you know that following her now will only lead to more trouble. You must let her cool off, otherwise you will both only say things you don't mean and it will only get worse."

He said this calmly and with a disarming smile, Shinji couldn't help but calm down slightly, the young man extended his hand.

"My name is Pablo, why don't you join me and my friends for a drink?" Shinji hesitated, though then his mind admits defeat on the whole Asuka issue and he extended his hand a little unsurely.

"Shinji… nice to meet you" he said in a less then convincing tone.

"Well Shinji" said Pablo "Lets go and commiserate your continued struggle with the female species" and once again Pablo places a hand on Shinji's shoulder, leading him over to his friends at the bar. Shinji, still miserable about Asuka, couldn't help but perk up a bit in this new social environment, though he was still distant, his mind not capable of letting his thoughts on Asuka go.

Meanwhile back in the restaurant Kaji and Misato were still tenderly dancing. Out of the corner of her eye Misato saw the emergence of a very upset Asuka. Asuka stopped at the edge of the dance floor, spotting Misato and Kaji.

'Is there nowhere on this bloody rock I can be alone!' Asuka thought to herself. Looking around she noticed the sign for the toilets at the other side of the bar. Crossing the edge of the dance floor Asuka deliberately avoided eye contact with her guardian and entered the restroom. Misato watched her go past.

"Oh oh" whispered Misato into Kajis ear. Kaji, lost in his own world, opened his eyes.

"What is it my dear?" he said, as smooth as ever.

"Looks like Asuka and Shinji had a bit of a fight" replied Misato. Still moving to the music.

"Ah, a lovers quarrel" said Kaji

"Don't even go there!" said Misato, in a hushed, surprised voice.

"I'm not the one that allows the two to have accommodation alone." replied Kaji slightly teasingly.

"That's for security reasons" replied Misato defensively, the two continued dancing automatically. "Anyway there's no way those two would ever get together, they're just too different. I'm worried about their cohesion as team members" she finished.

"Ahh always the commander" said Kaji, Misato gave him a frown.

"(No way), is a rather big assumption" continued Kaji smiling "but I will admit it is unlikely."

They kept dancing.

"Though they have become close, you must admit that" he said.

"All the pilots have" answered Misato, looking back over Kajis shoulder at the bathroom door.

"That's just circumstances, their bond as pilots is what brings them together. Without that, someone like Shinji and Asuka would never become close."

"Oh I don't know" mussed Kaji, he paused in thought. "Perhaps if they had grown up together, they may have ended up childhood sweethearts."

Misato pulled away slightly and gave Kaji an odd look.

"Just a thought" said Kaji sweetly. They danced on.

"Well, to keep the peace tonight, we had better go check on the two" said Misato, as the song comes to an end. They finish by applauding the band.

"I'll meet you back on the dance floor." said Kaji, giving Misato a quick kiss and a wink before leaving for the door. Misato watches him go, then made her way to the toilets.

Opening the door she saw Asuka leaning over the basin, staring at herself in the mirror, a harsh expression on her face.

"Is everything ok Asuka?" Misato asked.

"Everything's fine Misato" replied Asuka in a less then convincing tone. She was still somewhat upset.

"You can go back to dancing with Kaji" she let slip, though instantly regretted it. 'Damn this anger' she thought to herself. Misato let the comment go, fully aware of Asuka's feelings on herself and Kaji.

"Have you and Shinji had a fight" Misato enquired.

Although the two girls had remained stand offish because of the Kaji issue, when alone, Misato and Asuka had managed to become relatively close in the last year.

"Fight? Why would we have a fight!" said Asuka defensively. "That little jerk was just being a bastard, that's all" snapped Asuka.

Misato moves closer. "That doesn't sound like Shinji" she said "I'm sure there would have been some reason for his words" said Misato calmly. Asuka spun around to face Misato.

"What! So your saying it's my fault! Lovely little Shinji could never say anything cruel! It always has to be big bad Asuka who is a bitch first!" yelled Asuka, squaring up to Misato. Misato strained to maintain her composure, staring down Asuka's outburst.

"That's not what I said Asuka" she replied soothingly.

"I'm sure you both said things you regretted" she continued. "I'm not blaming you or him, I'm just trying to clear your perspective… So there was nothing you said in that argument that you regret?" Misato asked. Asuka took a step back, her eyes wavering slightly and then turning down.

"Well…" Asuka paused slightly. "Argg! Why does he have to be so damn infuriating!"

She let go of her emotions again, turning to face the mirror.

"He's a male, they just are" said Misato sympathetically "Its difficult when two people care for each other." she continue.

"What!" yelled Asuka, turning her head to give Misato an accusing look.

"Not like that!" replied Misato "But come on Asuka, two people can't work, and live close together for as long as you and Shinji have with out at least caring for each other a little bit."

Asuka continued to stare at Misato for a while.

"Well I never asked him to care for me." she said simply, almost resentfully.

"That's just the way Shinji is, and considering how many different people there are out there, he's not to bad." Misato said. Asuka gave Misato a probing look, but all she saw was a pleasant, non-hostile face. Her anger largely spent, she only had one last argument left.

"Well he's still a jerk." she said simply.

"Considering he's a 16 year old boy, I'll classify that as a compliment" said Misato happily. Generating a small smile from Asuka.

"Come on, let's go back and have a coffee." said Misato encouragingly, putting her hand on Asuka's shoulder. Asuka regained much of her composure and nodded, together the two left. They arrived back at the table and ordered two coffees, started to talk about other matters. Though, in the back of Asuka's mind she was still thinking over her conversation with Shinji.

Meanwhile back outside Kaji had found Shinji and his new bunch of commiserating friends. Going up and introducing himself the four males chatted happily for a while. Shinji still had lingering effects from the margarite and was a little under the weather. Kaji skillfully managed to excuse himself and Shinji from the group and soon Kaji and Shinji were sitting in front of two coffees, where Shinji and Asuka had been sitting earlier.

"So, anything you want to talk about" asked Kaji innocently, taking a sip of his coffee.

"About Asuka?" replied Shinji "Other then the usual crap, nothing new" he said bitterly, the alcohol was only now starting to wear off, his past feelings began to re-emerge in force.

"You care for her a lot don't you?" said Kaji evenly. Shinji looked up at Kaji. 'Again with this personal garbage' he thought to himself.

"I care for a lot of people, so what of it?" he said defensively. Taking a drink of his coffee, Shinji slightly burning his tong, he winced. Kaji grinned.

"Patience is a virtue, often it stops you getting burnt" Kaji said philosophically.

"Hmph" muttered Shinji, taking his next sip more slowly.

"You're a very brave young man Shinji, woman are difficult to understand, and Asuka is one of the most complicated of the lot" Kaji said softly

"Hmm" muttered Shinji "Then why do I feel that I'm always resented for trying, maybe I should just give up" he said. Kaji looked at Shinji for a while.

"Do you think you're helping her?" asked Kaji. Shinji looked at him for a second.

"Well I would hope so, I'm not taking all this abuse for nothing, I just wish she would open up to someone." replied Shinji, Kaji gave him a smile.

"All we can ever do is try, we must do what we feel is right" Kaji said, looking out at the ocean. Shinji however was not to impressed by such a vague response.

"You're doing well Shinji, I'm sure she appreciates your efforts deep down. I think you know that too" he gave Shinji a sympathetic look "in your heart" Kaji gave him a knowing smile.

"Ya well, I wish I could get a little encouragement from her occasionally" replied Shinji, though now he was back to his neutral self once more.

Thinking back to just after the fight with Kaworu he tried to remember his mindset back then, it was so clear, for a few days he could do no wrong, everything was obvious and he finally understood… well everyone! Or at least he had felt like he could. Since then however a small amount of his previous self doubts had re-emerged and he was not so confident any more. It's a pity he couldn't have remained like that, but given the experience he had had to go through to attain that clear state of mind, he wasn't so sure. Shinji turned his head to look back out into the ocean. Even though he had reverted slightly he still was a vastly improved person since that experience, and he was quite happy with his life at the moment, and confident that it would continue so, despite his incomprehension of a lot of circumstances.

"Come on, lets go back inside" said Kaji, finishing his coffee. Shinji snapped back to reality and finished his own coffee. The two went back inside after Shinji wished Pablo and his mates good luck with their girlfriends. Arriving back inside they found Asuka and Misato back at the table also drinking coffee. They went up to them just as a new song was starting. Kaji acknowledged Asuka and gave her a smile, which she returned. Just after Shinji sat down Misato suddenly got up, indicating to Kaji that she really wanted to dance to this song, then she said to Shinji and Asuka that they would leave afterwards, it was already getting late. The two left the pilots alone and went down to the dance floor again. Back at the table it was an uncomfortable silence between Shinji and Asuka. It lasted for about thirty seconds until Shinji let out a long breath and finally said quietly.

"I'm sorry about what I said to you Asuka, you know I didn't mean it"

"Then why did you say it" replied Asuka. Both pilots watching the dancers below.

"Well I was upset with your comment" said Shinji, still trying to remain calm. Asuka knew what he was speaking of, but her emotions had begun to stir again, and her pride was quite sick of her showing her softer side all night.

"You're the one who was a jerk, I don't know what your worried about" she said quietly, but with venom.

"What?" said Shinji shocked. That was it, he'd had enough, swarming with emotions his mind snapped.

'Bitch' he thought to himself, 'let her be.'

Without any further comment from Shinji, Asuka eventually looked over at him. He was sitting there, a furious expression on his face, staring at the lights of Rio off in the distance. She looked down at his hand on the table, it was uncharacteristically calm, clenched into a fist but calm. 'fine' she thought to herself. And so it remained, Misato and Kaji returned and the four headed back to the airbase. It was 10:30pm and the streets were relatively quiet.

Asuka was not enjoying herself, she and Shinji had not exchanged another word, though he was pleasant enough to Misato and Kaji, even thanking them for a lovely day. This only enraged her further. He was uncharacteristically quiet and would not look at Asuka, in fact any indication that he even noticed her only resulted in a somewhat scary and determined face. This was the first time that Asuka had seen Shinji like this, usually he simply apologised and took whatever demands Asuka made. She was still angry with him, though due to his current attitude very worried about him as well. This brought up a whole heap of emotions that were uncomfortable for her. She wanted to say something but her pride simply wouldn't let her. Unable to deal with these uncomfortable emotions she transferred them to what she new best, anger, but this in turn only made her want to talk to Shinji more which made her worry and so it continued. The trip home was too long, allowing both pilots to stew in their respective hostile thoughts. Asuka could not contain her anger and let slip a few catty comments which only managed to anger Shinji more, increasing his resolve. He only sat there in silence becoming more angry. This again only served to increase Asuka's annoyance until by the time they finally got back to base you could have cut the air of hostility in the back seat with a knife. Asuka jumped out first, her shopping bags in hand. She thanked Misato and Kaji for a nice day in a pleasant tone, but gave Shinji a very dirty look before quickly running off to the barracks. Shinji got out slowly and watched Asuka go, turning to Misato and Kaji he thanked them both again.

"Are you going to be alright Shinji?" asked Misato, she knew that, when angered, Asuka very easily used physical aggression towards Shinji. Shinji looked at her levelly.

"I will be fine" he said calmly. Then after wishing them goodnight he turned to walk back to his accommodation. Misato watched him go, she was worried, Shinji was acting very strange.

"Maybe we should go and check up on them" she said to Kaji when Shinji was out of earshot.

"They'll be fine" said Kaji wrapping his arms around Misato from behind. "Some things are better worked out by the participants alone"

And with that he gave Misato a kiss on the neck. Easily convinced, Misato turned and gave Kaji a kiss.

"So where are you staying tonight, 'agent'?" she asked slyly.

"Actually I was hoping to do some 'internal investigation' to determine the loyalties of a particular high ranking NERV commander" he said softly.

"Sounds like dangerous work" replied Misato.

"Some things are worth the risk" said Kaji slyly. Misato giggled, and the two of them turned in for the night.

Shinji returned to his barracks. Entering the half open door and closing it behind him he found Asuka hanging up her swimwear to dry near her bed. Throwing his own clothes in the corner he moved to go to the bathroom. He was just at the entrance when Asuka spoke.

"Wait a second, I need to go first." she said, moving up behind him. He concentrated for a second, then began to move out of the way to let her past. Not waiting for verbal approval Asuka pushed her way through, closing the curtain roughly behind her. Shinji, annoyed, only said "Hurry up!"

Then walked back to his bed. As expected Asuka took her time, as Shinji knew she would. He was listening to his walkman when she re-emerged, not even bothering to call out to him that she was finished. Eventually he got up and walked past her, neither saying a word. When he came back out, Asuka was looking at some of the clothes she had bought today. Walking past her, he went to get his towel and Pj's for a shower. Coming back he walked past her again and was about to enter the bathroom when again from behind came.

"Where do you think your going?" asked Asuka coldly

"To have a shower" replied Shinji in a similar tone.

"You know I always shower before you" said Asuka evenly. She moved to grab her own towel and Pj's.

"Not tonight Asuka, I'm tired and want to go to bed." said Shinji, standing still not facing her. She moved up beside him.

"And who are you to decide this?" she asked moving to go past him. Shinji's right arm shoot out and connected with the wall heavily, blocking her path. Not expecting this action Asuka ran into it. Shinji had still not turned to face her.

"Who the hell do you think you are!" asked Asuka, getting angry. Using her free hand she grabbed Shinji's arm and raised it violently to go through. Shinji however swung around and placing his left hand just bellow her neck, pushed her back heavily. Asuka, completely off guard, stumbled backwards and landed heavily on her bed.

"Who the hell do you think YOU are?" demanded Shinji, the anger in his voice now apparent. Bewildered for a second Asuka became furious, her now narrow eyes boring into Shinji, whose expression now reflected hers.

"What's this?" spat Asuka "Little Shinji doesn't know his place, am I going to have to kick your ass again am I?" she ranted. Over the last year Shinji had received the same self-defence training that Asuka had had in her time in Germany. Though not as practiced, he had attained a very high skill level in that time.

"No element of surprise this time Asuka!" retorted Shinji. "I wouldn't be so sure of myself" he spat back aggressively, standing as confidently as he could. A flash of red crossed Asuka's face, moving quickly she launched herself from her bed and cleared the one metre towards Shinji, positioning her shoulder to impact square on Shinji's chest.

"Arrggg!" she screamed. Shinji, caught in the doorway, couldn't evade. He rolled back to absorb the impact, throwing Asuka past him as effectively as he could. Luckily the bathroom area was large and Asuka rolled easily without hitting anything. Rolling-up her momentum carried her into the far wall and she impacted against it. Shinji was back on his feet quickly, he looked at his arms, some deep scratches were glowing red on his skin. Asuka's hair was a mess, but Shinji could see her satisfied grin, shining menacingly from behind her hair.

Completely overcome with rage Shinji snapped.

"Come on then, bitch!" he yelled, taunting her.

She moved towards him quickly, sending a side kick towards his kidneys, he deflected and took a step forward, trying to send a flat handed jab towards her stomach. She deflected with a grab of her left hand, spinning around, she sent her right elbow into the side of Shinji. He gasped, Asuka spun back around using her whole arc to try and deliver a massive blow to Shinji's middle. Recovering quickly Shinji deflected the blow, this opened her up to a short range open-handed hit into her mid section. She recoiled. Shinji made a grab for her arm, wishing to get her in a hold. She spun elegantly, ducking low to cork one of Shinji's leg with her knee. Sending out a yelp, he began to falter. Before he fell he swung her violently into the wall next to the door, Asuka let out a yelp and Shinji used the respite to roll out of the bathroom into the sleeping room. He stood up, but was unsure on his feet. He looked at the bathroom entrance panting heavily. Asuka appeared slowly, clearing her hair from her face she noticed Shinji's unsteadiness, and give Shinji a purely evil grin. She moved in for the kill, Shinji backed off sending blows at Asuka to keep her at arms length. She however was too quick, and even though Shinji managed to land a few hits and kicks to her face limbs and torso, he received more then he delivered. Knowing he was loosing he suddenly closed for a hold, taking a few hits he soon had the advantage. Asuka squirmed to get out of his grip. Used to stronger opponents, she started to break the hold. Shinji, out of desperation, threw her away from him towards the small wooden table, she impacted awkwardly and the table collapsed. She let out a loud yelp. Shinji, exhausted, got ready for the next attack. Asuka however wasn't getting up, groaning she put her hand to her head. Shinji, for the first time, noticed some blood on her arm. Completely shocked he looked down at his own hands.

"What have I done?" he asked himself. His hands started to shake slightly. He took another look at Asuka, who is sitting up awkwardly. All previous anger vanished from his system as he took in the whole scene. Running over, he bent down next to Asuka, raising her head to sweep her hair away. Asuka looked up at him with a bewildered expression.

"I'm so sorry Asuka" said Shinji, the sorrow evident in his voice. "I don't know how I let this happen." He grabbed a nearby shirt and started to wipe away some blood on Asuka's cheek, caused from a small cut.

Other then a few small cuts the only damage to the two were bruises. Asuka came back around, her eyes focusing on Shinji.

"I'm sorry Asuka" Shinji said again. Asuka looked at him for a second still bewildered, then however anger started to take over her expression again.

"Who the hell are you to feel sorry for me!" she yelled, pushing him back so that he fall onto the floor. She got up unsteadily, Shinji did the same, only slower. A look of pure hatred in her face, she moved to close the distance.

"I never asked for your damn pity!" she yelled. Coming into striking distance, her emotions overflowing, she was no longer capable of organised combat. She moved to slap Shinji, who caught her right hand as it swung towards him. She tried with the left, though Shinji caught that as well, and the two stood face to face. Asuka, enraged, stared into the sad face of Shinji.

"I don't know how to help you Asuka." said Shinji, releasing his grip. She took a step back and sent a slap towards him, he didn't evade and the vicious blow impacted loudly.

"I never asked you to care!" she yelled at him. He turned his head back to face her

"I'm sorry" he said simply, lowering his eyes. This was too much for Asuka, her rage so high her eyes begin to moisten. Grabbing Shinji by the collar she pushed him viciously up against a wall, using her whole weight to hight-en the blow. He impacted heavily, and it took him a few seconds to recover, a small amount of blood trickled out of his nose. Beside him his hands went limp, he looked square into Asuka's eyes, nothing but sadness and pity visible in his own. Asuka was shaking, her gaze locked with Shinji's, she released her right hand and raises it for another swing at him.

"Do as you will" said Shinji unwaveringly. He continued to hold her gaze, unflinching.

Asuka mind fought desperately to gain control, there is no way out!

She suddenly remembers back to her childhood, 'I will not cry, I will not cry!' her emotions were overflowing. She could not hit this boy, this boy who cared for her so much he is willing to receive physical harm not to hurt her any-more. He is not a coward, (he was staring straight at her! Unflinching!) He is not beneath her, he fought well, he doesn't think he's better then her, his eyes were reflecting nothing but sympathy. there is no way out! 'Damn you Shinji!' her mind screams. 'Why do you care!', 'Why do you care!'.

Shinji, still holding her gaze, prepared for the worst, though only calmly closes his eyes, head still not turning, when Asuka's raised hand begins to move towards him.

Expecting a blow, he awaited the inevitable. His mind however almost shuts down in shock when instead of a hit he suddenly felt Asuka's lips press against his. His eye's snapped open to see Asuka's face, eyes clenched, pressed against his. Her hands came up to shakily grab the back of his head, with a little too much force she pressed herself against him. Wrapping her free hand around his back. Shinji, bewildered, was slow to recover, not knowing how to proceed he simply began to kiss her back. This however was not easy as Asuka, still stressed, was using a lot of force. She softened however as soon as Shinji placed one arm around her and used his other hand to gently caress her face. Asuka's expression softened and her hold lightened, as if she had been waiting for an accepting sign, much to Shinji's immediate relief. Now fully engaged, they then proceeded to share the most passionate, if slightly awkward, kiss that either of the two pilots would ever experience. It continued for a couple of minutes as much of the frustration and emotions that the two had experienced was seemingly poured out in this one act. Shinji could feel Asuka's slightly swollen lip and the taste of blood was in both their mouths, though neither cared. Asuka finally broke the kiss, leaning back she looked into Shinji's eyes with a blank expression. He looked back, still slightly surprised and unsure of the situation.

"Asuka?" he said uneasily. Asuka however only took a step back, holding his hand. She then guided him to his left and rather unceremoniously pushed him onto his own bed. Shinji, still shocked, could only watch as she climbed on top of him and began to kiss him again. Completely at a loss, he simply played along. Her expression remained largely blank, though it was undeniable that she was enjoying herself when in contact with him. They kissed passionately, Asuka's hands ran up and down Shinji's body, Shinji likewise doing the same. Asuka hands were becoming 'very familiar' and Shinji's eyes sprang open in shock. His hormones finally began to kick in, and his hands returned the favour, achieving some moans from Asuka at certain times. This continued for a while and soon Asuka was removing Shinji's clothes. It didn't take long before Asuka and Shinji were reduced to panties and underpants respectively. Shinji's mind was a mess, his body was effectively on hormone autopilot and not doing too badly at all, both pilots were breathing deeply at this stage.

Though his mind was not happy at all, this whole thing was very wrong, though Asuka was obviously enjoying herself he couldn't help but notice some residual tension. Also the few times that she had pulled back and looked at him he had found himself staring into a largely blank expression, though it did not register any negative feelings at all, it also did not register any positive attributes either. This fact was the one thing that disturbed him most of all. The situation was becoming 'very' intense and Shinji's mind fought for control. Asuka was now sitting on top of him, he leaned upwards, putting himself and Asuka in a tangled seating position. He took a large gulp as he fought all kinds of sensations that were flooding his mind. Being the first time he had taken the initiative, Shinji kissed her passionately one last time. Still feeling the rather mechanical response from Asuka he pulled back from her, pausing for a second to gain his breath, Asuka moved to continue but he held her back.

"Asuka" he said "You're the most beautiful person I know, someone I respect and admire, I will gladly continue" he paused, thinking back to his last words before this new development, suddenly the words 'do as you will' had taken on a whole new meaning than what he was expecting.

"But are you sure you want to do this?" he looked into her eyes sympathetically. Asuka's eyes began to water slightly and they sparkled a little in the light of the room, otherwise however she did not really respond, silent she moved to kiss Shinji again. He again pulled away, though it was incredibly difficult to do.

"All you have to say is yes" said Shinji. He watched Asuka, a single tear rolled down her cheek.

In Asuka's mind, the game was up. Her mind had not used the last ten minutes or so to work through anything, being effectively bottled up after her decision to kiss Shinji. Her last avenue of denial was in turn denied her, all she had to do was say yes, but this required her to contemplate her response and thus the last mental support crumbled in the face of a mostly naked, caring Shinji. Her mental walls of denial collapsed. The single tear was the first indication. Finally her expression changed. Shinji had never seen such a sad face in his entire life. Suddenly all the rest of Asuka's emotions were released and she began to cry. Starting off slowly, she soon began in earnest. Shinji was shocked, once again unsure, he once more put his arms around her and gave her a hug. This only released the floodgates, Asuka grabbed Shinji, burying her head in his shoulder, and only cried more. Massive tears flowing she began to sob loudly, the convulsions were so intense that Shinji had to concentrate to maintain his grip. Asuka continued to cry, soon her whole body became limp, her energy being used in her emotional release. Though her energy was failing due to the intense emotional release her arms remained strong, clinging to Shinji. Shinji couldn't hold his position so lent back down allowing Asuka to fall on top of him, she continued to hold on dearly, burying her face in his chest. Shinji kept holding on bewildered, but somehow relieved, allowing Asuka to continue crying, while stroking her hair. Her experience being so intense that the effects could be felt through her entire body. She continued in this way for a while occasionally gulping for air between the tears, though at no stage letting go. It seemed like a long time, though in reality it only lasted about 2min, Shinji was still stroking her hair when her grip suddenly loosened. Exhausted by the effort of letting her emotions go, she had finally collapsed, and she drifted off to sleep. Shinji lay there for a while, as the reality of the situation sunk in. He was relieved, though the practical side of the evening soon began to sink in. His chest and the bed below him were drenched from her tears, and on top of him lay a practically naked Asuka, emotionally and physically exhausted, and asleep. Something had to be done. Kissing her forehead lightly he decided he had better do something, He managed to get out from under her, only mildly disturbing the sleeping girl. He found a towel and cleaned her up as best he could. He decided he had better but her Pj top on at the very least and she mumbled sleepily as he propped her up and dressed her, it was a surprisingly difficult exercise, Asuka's exhaustion only allowed her to become semi conscious during the whole experience. Shinji talked her through the process soothingly. Soon Shinji was finished. He would have left her on his bed but for the fact that it was now wet from tears and some blood. He picked Asuka up, only now did he begin to notice some of the larger bruises inflicted by this same girl earlier this evening. Clenching his teeth he managed to get her into her own bed. He straightened up gratefully and looked around the room.

"What a mess" he said softly under his breath. He felt a hand on his leg, looking down he saw the barely conscious eyes of Asuka looking up at him.

"Shinji" she said softly. He had been here before, leaning down he stroked her hair.

"I'll be back in a minute, you won't be alone" he said softly. Asuka gave him a smile and leaned back, falling asleep. Shinji got back up, he 'had' been here before, he shook his head, a smile on his face, 'twice?' he smiled lazily to himself.

Changing quickly into his own Pj's, he looked around for a way to warn himself of approaching people tomorrow. He didn't want to have to look into the disapproving face of Misato again. Eyeing the chair he moved it over to the door, placing it under the hinge on an angle. He heard Asuka stirring behind him, looking back down he was satisfied that the chair would at least afford him some warning. Turning off the lights he went back to Asuka, she quietened as soon as he approached. He tenderly moved her to one side and lay down, lifting the light sheet up. As expected Asuka snuggled up to him, laying her head on his shoulder and placing her arm across his chest. Shinji drew the blankets over the top of them both and made himself comfortable. Asuka slept quietly, and Shinji listened to her breath. He was becoming quite good at this, he thought to himself, smiling in the dark. Quite contented Shinji placed his hands behind his head, and fell asleep with a smile on his face, feelings the rhythm of Asuka's heartbeat next to his own.

The next morning found Misato relatively late to rise. Separating herself from a still sleeping Kaji she looks at the clock, nine AM. Not to bad, she had expected this, nothing was scheduled until 11am today anyway. Soon she was ready to face the day, and made her way over to the pilots barracks, on the way she ran into a guard. He reported hearing some strange noises from the barracks the night before. When asked to elaborate he simply stated that it sounded like fighting. The guard however was a NERV veteran, and didn't think that the pilots fighting was a particularly strange event. Misato nodded knowingly, and hurried over, given their state last night she was still a little worried about Shinji's health. Arriving at the door Misato calmly tried to open it. Encountering resistance she gave it a little shove. As the chair was on a smooth floor it slipped away, falling to the ground with a crash.

Shinji's eyes burst open, his mind was already firing on all cylinders. He found himself wrapped around Asuka in the spoon position, jumping up he fell backwards off the bed, crashing to the floor. Standing quickly he placed the covers back over Asuka before Misato had even entered the room fully. Looking around Shinji made a dive for the bathroom, turning on the faucet and grabbing his toothbrush. Meanwhile Misato had finally entered the room, looking around she inhaled sharply in shock. Between the destroyed table and other disarray there were obvious signs of blood on Shinji's bed. Due to the division in the room Misato couldn't see Asuka or the bathroom.

"Shinji! Asuka!" Misato called out with concern. Meanwhile Shinji was splashing water on his face in the bathroom and was trying to wash off some of the dried blood from his face. He gave up and raced out to see Misato, toothbrush sticking out of his mouth. He came out of the bathroom just as Misato dashed around the divide.

"Shinji!" Misato exclaimed, she quickly checked Asuka's bed, Asuka meanwhile was awake and was leaning up, though still half asleep.

"Shinji, Asuka, what on earth happened here last night?" asked Misato desperately. Asuka had developed a slightly swollen lip overnight while one of Shinji's eyes was slightly dark. Misato didn't know who to go to first, spotting Shinji's dried blood she moved to him first, trying to get a closer look at his face.

"Oh my God, are you two ok?"

Bewildered she looked from one to the other.

"It's O.K Misato" said Shinji, backing slightly away from Misato, as she tried to grab his face to inspect it.

"What on earth happened?" demanded Misato, stopping her advance. Asuka, now awake, sat up in her bed.

"It was only a small sparring match that got a little out of hand" said Asuka casually, giving Shinji a small smile, which Shinji returned. Misato, unconvinced, looked from one to the other.

"I was a little worried about leaving you two alone last night, but I didn't think you would try to kill each other!" she stated concerned.

"It wasn't that bad" replied Asuka "Last night we just got a little, spirited, that's all. It won't happen again, I promise"

Misato was still not convinced, looked between the two with a confused expression, both of them gave her reassuring smiles, she gave up. Dejected Misato let out a long breath then place her hands on her hips.

"I can't have two of my pilots injuring each other, is that clear!" she said in a more authoritarian voice. "If it happens again the two of you will have to come under review, do I make myself clear" Misato scolded, having again reverted to her commander voice. She looked at the two, who nodded. Completely defeated Misato lets out a discouraged groan.

"You two!" Misato said bitterly, turning on her heals she marched out the door. Just before she left however she turned to add one more comment.

"And make sure you clean this place up! I expect you both at the mess hall in half an hour!" and with that she slammed the door.

Left on their own Shinji took the toothbrush out of his mouth and smiled at Asuka. She smiled back, and they shared a little laugh. Shinji however became quickly uncomfortable as he waited for a reaction to last night's happenings. Asuka yawned and stretches innocently, getting up, she walked past Shinji into the bathroom, leaving the curtain open. Joining her at the second basin, Shinji looked at himself in the mirror, he started to wash his face properly. Asuka looked at her face in the mirror too, touching her swollen lip she winced a bit.

"You're not a bad fighter Shinji, you got in a few good ones" she said lightly. Shinji looked over, smiling, he got back to cleaning the blood from his face.

"Still not good enough, I think I ended up with more bruises then you" replied Shinji. They continue to clean themselves up, Asuka started to brush her hair.

"Shinji"

"Yes" said Shinji looking up.

"Thank you." said Asuka simply, continuing to brush her hair. Shinji paused, the only sound, coming from the running water.

"Shinji"

"Hmmm"

"How do you think of me?" asked Asuka, Shinji was sort of expecting this, but still unprepared none the less.

"I mean what type of relationship do you think we have?" Asuka asked, turning to face him. Again Shinji paused, searching for an answer in his own reflection in the mirror. Coming to a decision he straightening up and faces Asuka.

"Well…..I would like to think of us as close friends" he said.

Asuka looked at him evenly for a while, Shinji being careful to maintain a sincere face.

"After last night I think we might almost classify as intimate friends" implied Asuka, with a slight smirk, though she herself was also very uncomfortable. Shinji turned a light shade of red and broke eye contact, smiling shyly.

"Yah I suppose so" he said, his voice was kind but also a little unsure. Asuka watched his reaction, nervously.

"I think your right though, close friends would be best" she said eventually, again trying to gauge Shinji's reaction. Looking back up at her, his smile grew.

"I would really like that" he said confidently. Asuka noticeably relaxed, and was glad that that was over with. They looked at each other for a few seconds, then Asuka took a quick step forward, placing a kiss on Shinji's cheek.

"Thanks for being there for me." she said lightly, and gave him a cheeky smile. Turning on her heels, she went to the doorway.

"And for being such a good friend, I will allow you to use the bathroom first today" she said in her over emphasised gracious way. Leaving the bathroom she pulled the curtains closed behind her to leave Shinji standing there speechless. A slight smile started to appear on his puzzled face.

"But if you use all the hot water I'm going to have to kick your ass again Shinji!" yelled Asuka happily. Shinji turned to the basin. Happy with himself, he began to whistle a tune.

Half an hour later Shinji and Asuka arrived at the mess hall. Inside Misato and Kaji were already eating.

"You should have seen the room!" whispered Misato to Kaji under her breath. Their conversation was interrupted by the appearance of the pilots "And you said they would be ok" scorned Misato, taking another mouthful of her breakfast. Kaji looked up casually, watching the pilots enter.

"I don't know what the problem is my dear Major, they both appear to be smiling" said Kaji casually, but quietly.

"Well take another look, and you'll notice that it looks like they have been in a bar brawl!" hissed Misato. Kaji took another look as the two line up to be served. They did appear quite happy, though the NERV personnel around them couldn't help but stare slightly at some of the more obvious injuries.

"It would appear that their methods may be a little extreme" said Kaji returning to his breakfast, "But if all results of physical fights were as pleasant as that one appears to be" Kaji took another bit, chewing slowly. "I would intice you to fighting more often" he finished. Misato, speechless, looked from the pilots back to Kaji, a dumbfounded expression on her face. Shinji and Asuka made their way over, full trays in hand.

"You wish" slipped in Misato under her breath, before Shinji and Asuka arrived.

"I hope your quarters are back in order." Misato said loudly with a frosty edge, not looking up.

"It's all tidy" replied Asuka, sitting next to Kaji. Shinji took a spot next to Misato.

"I'm sorry Misato but we couldn't fix the table" Shinji said "We left the pieces just outside the barracks."

Kaji give the pilots a smile, looking at each for a little while.

"I see you've improved Shinji" said Kaji lightly "Asuka appears to have at least as many injuries as you"

Asuka and Shinji stopped eating, exchanged glances and looked at Kaji, Misato was doing the same.

"Yah" said Shinji suddenly smiling. "Though I think my sudden show of competition caused the… slight increase in intensity" he replied, finishing in a playful tone. Asuka took another bite then added haughtily.

"Its good to finally have a slight bit of competition"

Misato, flabbergasted by the conversation, simply observed.

"Just make sure that you take it easy on him Asuka" said Kaji. "Remember we're here to fight the enemy, neither of you is good to us without a wingman." he said smiling. Asuka, Shinji and Kaji shared a quiet laugh, Misato however was still looking on unamused, seeing the more serious side of the whole affair.

The day progressed, Shinji and Asuka were ordered to visit the base medic, and both were given some ointments for their respective superficial injuries. Misato, still unimpressed, incorporated a strenuous physical work-out into today's training, one which made both pilots quite aware of the injuries they sustained the previous evening. It was tough going and even though the two pilots were in obvious discomfort their moral was higher then ever. In fact Misato couldn't remember a time when the two had gotten along better. Surrounded by this continued high spirits, Misato couldn't help but start to forget her own dark views on their recent behaviour. The day was almost over already and both pilots were stiff and sore. Misato gave one more attempt at playing the commander, but when she was met with only good humour, she caved, sending the two off to the showers.

Shinji and Asuka showered and changed, meeting Misato back at the mess hall. Dinner was relatively good, and afterwards the entire camp was treated to a movie, shown in the mess tent. The evening became more relaxed. Misato again in good spirits, joked with the pilots before sending them to bed. The entire day had been superb. Both pilots had remained nervous about the others true feelings about their current standpoint towards each other. Though as they had both continually reinforced the line of good friends in their actions towards each other during the day, both became reassured about the others true feelings. Preparing for bed Shinji started one of his tapes, playing softly on the new table that had been arranged. Wishing each other good night the two pilots fell asleep contented, listening to Jazz playing softly in the background. Though the past evenings actions had not come up for discussion again, their actions all day had done more then words could have. Cementing their new relationship, a new friendship that had only been exposed after the torrid and extreme actions during the destruction of their old friendship the night before.

The next day was much the same, the situation had mellowed much and Misato had returned to her light hearted state. Soon the day was over again.

Authors note:

Well that was quite intense, a lot of fun to write though. To be honest such a confrontation was the only way I saw the two pilots ever getting together, other then the whole childhood friendship thing. The physiology of the whole thing could easily be questioned, but I don't think it was too far fetched. So now my views on the two relationship possibilities have been revealed. What will happen next?

In this chapter was the first mention of Mana Kirashima the character from the Evangelion game (Girlfriend of steel) or (iron maiden), if you don't know the official game check out Jazzam's Mana Kirashimas picture gallery for more info, you wont be disapointed


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 2: Summer storm**

I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion, its just a fan-fiction, read and enjoy.

Some feedback to my reviewers: None this time? No one like the story?

**2.3 Grey skies are gonna clear up, put on a happy face.**

Authors note:

Enough with this mushie stuff, time for some more combat! In this chapter we meet Mana Kirashima the character from the Evangelion game Girlfriend of steel or iron maiden, if you don't know the game check out Jazzam's Mana Kirashimas picture gallery for more info.

Four A.M. the next morning. Misato was woken from her sleep by Makoto at the door, information was coming in from Gendo. Quickly dressing, she and Kaji soon joined Fuyuzuki at command & control. They entered to see the faces of Gendo and Ritsuko on the monitors. Starting immediately Gendo said that information had arrived about the imminent deployment of the enemy Evas. Satellite reconnaissance had picked up activity at a couple of locations. A map appeared on the projector screen and the locations were illustrated. Ritsuko continued, and information appeared on the map, given the strategic targets in the area the Magi had calculated the optimal staging area of the NERV Evas so as to be able to intercept any possible incursion. The briefing continued and Ritsuko transferred the limited information she had concerning what type of enemy Evas they were to expect, and what type of weapons they was expected to have. Gendo interrupted, asking that Kaji make his way to a chopper already organised by Gendo, he was to receive his own brief on rout to a new assignment. Saluting, Kaji made ready to go, asking Misato quietly to wish Shinji and Asuka goodbye. In professional mode, Misato only glanced sideways at Kaji who himself only gave a slight smile, she nodded slightly and their eyes locked for only a second. While at work the two were professional, but considering how close they were, tiny signals had developed, ones not noticeable for most people. Kaji quickly retreated from the room. On the screen Gendo excused himself and left to give Kaji his own briefing. Ritsuko continued and before long the orders were issued for a re-deployment.

Shinji and Asuka were awakened, and through a hive of activity made their way to Misato.

Back in the control room, Gendo had reappeared and the NERV commanders were busily organising strategy. After greeting Shinji and Asuka, Gendo and Ritsuko got back to serious talk with Misato and Fuyuzuki. Asuka and Shinji listened in for a while, but it was mostly strategy. Noticing them out of sorts, Maya asked them if they wanted to talk to Rei. Grateful, the two pilots were soon in a side room sitting around a small Laptop, with a camera attachment. And no sooner had they sat down then a picture of Rei appeared on the screen, smiling.

Shinji and Asuka said hello happily, as they both squashed together to appear on the same screen. Quickly however a look of concern crossed Rei's face, the two pilots had forgotten about their injures, which were still slightly visible. Shinji and Asuka exchanged glances, having totally forgotten. Hearing Rei's concern they laughed, Asuka gave a good appraisal of their last couple of days, though omitting most of what happened two nights ago. In an inspired piece of light good natured teasing she did end the account by stating to Rei what a charming caring young man Shinji had become. At this comment Shinji turned red. Rei, smiling, helped rub it in and soon Shinji's eyes were looking at the floor, embarrassed. The two girls used this opportunity to share a sympathetic expression. Shinji, still embarrassed caught the exchange out of the corner of his eye. He was starting to suspect that the two were closer then he had first thought. Continuing the conversation the topics remained light, Shinji and Asuka found out what Hikari, Toji and Kensuka had been up to and what Rei had been doing at NERV. They were still going on when Makoto entered the room, saying they were moving out. The three pilots said their good byes, Rei wishing them well.

Soon Shinji and Asuka found themselves on a transport helicopter. The flight was long, and strenuous, the only consolidation was the spectacular views offered the youngsters by flying over 1/2 of Brazil to Colombia and Venezuela. They arrived at late morning to a remote looking airfield, in heavily mountainous terrain. Landing, they were greeted by the local commander. Provisions for their arrival were well under way. There was no time to wait and everyone helped with the difficult task of organising a temporary base, even Shinji and Asuka were used for physical labour. At about six PM the Evas arrived, dropped in by their transports the two Evas landed heavily close to the base. Shinji and Asuka were transported to the drop-zone were they activated their Eves and made their way back to the airfield. At eight PM it was finally finished.

The entire staff was exhausted and received only a basic field meal. Fuyuzuki ordered everyone to get some sleep as a night deployment was expected. There were no complaints from the collected assembly and soon all NERV employees were fast asleep.

One massive Mosquito tent had been erected near the airfield which contained the eating area and the collective sleeping area, being a tropical climate the temperature was still high and the humidity intense. Given this, no one complained about the lack of privacy, being happy to have an open sleeping area. Everyone collapsed into their respective bunks and hammocks still fully clothed, soon only light snoring could be heard about the airfield.

The airfield did not have a large permanent staff, and everyone other then the communications staff had helped in the set-up, and so it was that a strange silence had descended over the airfield. Being a remote location, other then the snoring of the exhausted staff, the only man made noise was a continuous hum from the flood lights illuminating the Evas and the slow turning radar at the far end of the airfield. Occasionally this silence was pierced by an animal noise coming from the surrounding thick jungle, as well as the respective insect noises vying for sound domination against the hum of the lights.

It was a clear night and soon the stars were out, a peaceful scene, even the occasional lighting strikes and thunderclaps coming from an approaching storm far on the horizon only added to the lazy atmosphere. And so it stayed for the next two hours or so.

At the control tower the main door was suddenly thrown open, and a lone figure ran across the airfield to the sleeping tent. Entering, the young Venezuelan private made his way to Fuyuzuki, gently shaking him awake. Fuyuzuki stirred, after a short conversation the commander was up, quickly raising Misato, Maya and Makoto, they made there way over to the tower. Shinji, stirring, saw the figures go before rolling over and falling back to sleep. Soon he was back awake however as Misato called for an alert ready status. Everyone sprang into action. Shinji and Asuka grabbed their plug suits and got changed. Soon they were in the tower, awaiting their briefing. It appeared that the enemy was using the storm as cover. Three suspected Evas had been detected by boarder units, no visual ID was made to confirm however. Ritsuko and Gendo appeared on the link again, apparently the Magi had narrowed their possible targets down to one highly probable. Given the fact that all three known enemy Evas were this time engaged it was believed that this incursion was probably the pivotal attack of the enemy campaign. The aims of which were as mysterious as ever. The suspected target was the Intracon satellite communications facility, a massive antenna array. This was one of the strongest satellite communications installations in South America, and the only target of technological importance in the area, thus the suspected target. Tactical data was still coming in, but the two Evas were to make their way immediately to the installation, and once there, to await further instructions. Getting well wishes from their superiors, the two pilots nodded and made their way to their respective Evas. Running, they were quickly there. Both hesitating slightly before they split up.

"Well this is it" said Shinji, the seriousness of the situation sinking in.

"Ya, you take care out there you hear" replied Asuka, attempting to remain positive, they were after all about to go into combat, something they had not done for a year. Shinji gave her a weak smile.

"Now no showing off out there" teased Shinji.

"Lets show them we can work as a team yet" replied Asuka happily. And with that she took a quick step forward and gave Shinji a kiss on the cheek, he was about to blush when she followed up with a vicious punch in the arm.

"Argg" muttered Shinji, happily rubbing his arm. Asuka gave him a smirk and turned to run to her Eva. Soon the two Evas were active. Their new battery packs were installed, giving them power for an extra half an hour over the ½ hour that their internal batteries could manage. Assault riffles slung around their backs and extra clips on the slings, the two Evas made their way off, to the cheers of the ground crew.

The going was tough, with the terrain being very hilly and forested. Both Evas were waste deep in old growth rainforest. Continually in contact with Misato, now aloft in an aerial mobile unit, the two Evas made their way through the jungle. About fifty minutes later they had crossed two hundred kilometres of hilly terrain. Both pilots panting heavily. Misato had organised for a battery drop five minutes from the target area. It was as they were changing batteries that frantic calls started coming in from the communications facility. They were under attack by three Evas, the personnel had been prepared, and the facility was abandoned as soon as contact was confirmed. The surveillance system had been left on deliberately and soon images of the approaching Evas were transmitted. The storm had reached the facility and the heavy rain was obscuring the image. Large dark shapes could be made out on the horizon. Soon three massive figures could be seen in the rain. They finally cleared the surrounding forest, one large dark figure leaning down while the other two remained vigilant. Suddenly a large lighting strike lit up the scene and the enemy Evas were exposed. Shinji, watched the live-feed from his Eve, suddenly took in a deep breath, they looked exactly like old unit 4, Tojis old Eva. The one leaning down appeared to be holding a large container, appearing from it was a small squad of men, soon after that the camera went blank. Asuka's intercom came on line

"My god, they're piloted Evas just like ours." she said.

"I was expecting the robotic Evas from our last contact, where did they get the pilots?" said Shinji, uneasily. Misato suddenly appeared in the screen.

"We were suspecting this might be a possibility, Shinji" came in Misato's voice. "You were told this might be the case." she said in an authoritative voice. "Unfortunately they are simply fighting for the wrong side, there is nothing we can do about that."

Asuka and Shinji shared an unhappy look.

"You both know what's at stake here". Misato finished up.

"We are aware of that Misato, but its still difficult" said Shinji eventually, Asuka meanwhile was putting on Shinji's last battery for him. Asuka nodded in agreement.

"I have discussed this scenario with Gendo" said Misato "he is quite aware of your history"

Everyone was suddenly taken back to Shinji's fight with Toji's Eva. Shinji for the first time in a year had hostile thoughts about his father as he remembered back to the events, he shook them off however.

'He was a different person' he reminded himself, though he still was unhappy. Around the two standing Evas it began to rain heavily as the tropical storm reached them.

"In the current scenario we have changed the operation to a capture profile" Misato spoke on.

"All your weapons and targeting systems have been calibrated so as to minimise the potential risk to the enemy pilot. But in the end they may not hold the same opinion as you, so it will be your skill on the battlefield that decides not only your lives, but theirs as well."

Shinji looked over at Asuka, her Eva having retrieved its assault rifle from its back. Standing in the dark, rain streaming down, a lightning flash illuminate unit 02 as it stood there, menacingly. Looking back down at his console Asuka's image nodded at him in determination. Unnoticed to Shinji his hand had been clenching and unclenching by his side, suddenly it clenched into a fist, he nodded at Asuka in unspoken agreement. Retrieving his own rifle, he cocks it, placing the first round into the chamber. With the strap now removed, he placed it around the waist of Evangelion unit 01 like a belt.

Misato's mobile command centre had now landed on a nearby hill, the staff quickly getting out, setting up communications equipment in the pouring rain. Ritsuko's picture appeared on the screen. The tactical data had been transferred to the Magi, and scenarios were already being developed. The two Evas were told to move out and Shinji and Asuka took one more look at each other before making their way off to their starting position. While moving, Shinji's mind began to wander. He was about to attack another child, a child like himself, something that only a year or so before he had been willing to lose his life for to avoid. He frowned. So much had changed, his morals, his views. It had only occurred to him later how much of a coward he had been back then, not physically but emotionally. He had been unwilling to make a moral decision on his own, he had been lead by the will of others, allowing himself to be manipulated. And it had nearly cost Toji his life. Not only by the fact that the dummy system had almost killed him but also by the fact that it had almost not been given that chance. If Shinji would have died then not only Toji but all of humanity would have died. Something at the time his narrow viewpoint had not allowed him to see. But this time it was different. Back then his father had been wrong too. If he had disabled the dummy system earlier Toji's leg would have been spared. But then it was mistakes that were perpetuated, one on top of the other, which caused the whole miserable episode. Now however his father had recognised the grievance, and though tactically dangerous, had made plans to incorporate the pilots wishes, not to aim for a destruction of the target, but for capture. Even though Shinji knew that Gendo still had a very cold and leadership viewpoint of the lives of combatants, it was a point of view he was willing to address, much to Shinji's relief. 'I won't let you down' he said to himself, the aim was to capture, but if need be he was now strong enough to accept the reality of combat. Quickly his Eva was in position, two gullies away from the target facility, about 5km as the crow flies. Looking down the valley to his right he saw Asuka take up a similar position on the right flank. The Magi had predicted the enemies' movement, and had suggested possible locations of the enemy. They were apparently interested in only controlling the facility nothing more. Shinji and Asuka powered down while awaiting further instructions. Asuka sat in her entry plug, the sound of the rain hitting her Eva penetrating through to her.

Back at the command centre Ritsuko suddenly appeared on Misato's screen.

"We have just cracked a series of transmissions from American satellites and our own satellites have confirmed. They are trying to use long range N2 missiles to knock the Lance of Logenous into a descending orbit!" informed Ritsuko

"What!" replied Misato, "There trying to get back the Lance of Logenous, is that even possible?"

"According to the Magi, Yes, the initial blasts and atmospheric re-entry only has a point zero zero nine chance of damaging the lance." continued Ritsuko.

"What do they need from this outpost then" said Misato suspiciously.

"It's a incredibly difficult calculation, even with the help of the Magi. After the initial blast smaller blasts will be needed to correct its trajectory otherwise its final drop-zone could be anywhere. They obviously need this centre as a relay point to direct a phase of the calculation and calibration. This type of operation is something that will require a direct line of sight with sensitive equipment." finished Ritsuko. The fact that she was impressed with this plan as a scientist was obvious in her voice.

"So if we shut this place down, what then?" asked Misato, ignoring her friends empathy with the enemies plan.

"Only a short while ago we detected a large explosion in deep space, the lance is already on its way, it will re-enter now regardless. The only thing we can do know is disable this section of their plan. Their Australian relays will be SEELE friendly, so hopefully knocking out this link will be enough to insure that the lance lands somewhere were they don't want it too."

"That doesn't sound like much of a plan" scoffed Misato "So what do we do once it lands"

"Then it's a race to see who gets there first" Ritsuko stated innocently.

"Sounds like something that can quickly get out of hand." conjectured Misato, mostly to herself.

"Well at the moment all we have to worry about is that they don't make it land in America, if that happens its all over anyway" said Ritsuko poignantly to bring Misato back.

"What's so important about the lance anyway?" Misato asked impatiently, annoyed at the implied tone of Ritsuko.

"We don't have time for that now Major, according to the calculations just in, you have ten minutes to destroy that satellite dish outpost. I suggest you move out" replied Ritsuko.

Misato's, arms folded, scolded Ritsuko for a second before minimising her comm's window, looking back at the map she relayed strategic data to Shinji and Asuka.

"So we only need to destroy the facility?" asked Shinji hopefully.

"That's correct, you don't have to engage the enemy Evas if you can avoid it." said Misato, both Asuka and Shinji smiled, relieved.

"Why don't we just bombard with our rifles, like Rei did that one time?" asked Asuka hopefully, as confident as she was, she was quite aware that it was three verses two.

"I'm afraid that's not an option, our topographical data is not that good, and the stormy conditions would only give you a very low chance. Also as soon as you fire the enemy will know where you are and close. So we can only expose you if we're sure of a hit." directed Misato, scanning over the maps.

"Actually that's not a bad idea" said Misato suddenly. "Asuka I will give you a firing point from where you are to try and bombard the target. If you fail, pull back and hold off the Evas that come after you. Shinji you use this time to creep in and destroy the target. Then we all pull back, ok" finished Misato.

"O.K" came the reply from the pilots. Both links disappearing.

Asuka powered up unit 02 as the data was transferred. Awaiting a small timer she started to move out. Meanwhile Shinji got his position data, and with rifle in hand, slowly crawled over the hill to sneak into position. Given the ferocity of the thunderstorm and the height of the forest Shinji's action remained largely unnoticed, even though his Eva felled 40m high trees as it crawled along the ground. He closed to two kilometres to the target. Peaking through the trees, Shinji could see the next ridge, the last before he could get a clear shot at the target. Quietly Shinji scanned the area for the enemy Evas. Asuka meanwhile had moved around the target, she was moving low, and soon she come to an intersection of valleys. From Shinji's elevated position he looked down to his right, during a lightning burst he could just make out Asuka's Eva running in the distance. Looking back around he scanned for movement between the poring rain. Asuka was kneeling low, hesitant to make the last dash to her firing position. She was in an exposed location and was not happy about the dash across. Luckily she knew that Shinji occupied the highest peak, scanning around she made a judge of the lightning strikes, hoping to dash across between flashes. Shinji was still scanning the area when he looked back down at Asuka, until she fires he was to remain still. Looking down to her position a lightning flash showed the edge of her crouching Eva positioned behind the ridge. Suddenly Shinji noticed a large shadow, but the lightning flash was leaving an echo in his vision. Unsure of himself Shinji rubbed his eyes, and again looked at the ridge Asuka was hiding behind. Tensing, he tried to see, but there was no flash, the storm was not helping. Getting nervous Shinji hesitated to break radio silence. Slowly he got into a kneeling position bringing his gun up to bare. Asuka had missed the lightning lull. Angered at having not gone she waited to run immediately after the next one, regardless. Shinji looked again, that ridgeline was definitely moving more then it should have in the high winds. Suddenly another flash illuminated the terrain. Shinji's eyes shot open, an enemy Eva could be seen on the ridge, gun raised and lined up for a shot at Asuka's back, who was still crouching in the valley below.

"Asuka watch out!" screamed Shinji, breaking radio silence. Bringing his gun up he fired a long volley at the enemy Eva. Asuka, surprised at the sudden shouting of Shinji over the communication, saw Shinji's fire coming in from her left, her reflexes saved her and she dove forward into the junction without a seconds hesitation. The enemy Eva on the hill could see the tracers coming in, but too late, it pulled its own trigger in an attempt to at least hit Asuka, who luckily had dived forward. Shinji's fire impacted around its legs, loosing balance but still holding on to the trigger the enemy Eva threw itself over the edge of the ridge that Asuka had been hiding behind moments before. Its tracers swept up in a large ark, massive explosions tearing at the ground around Asuka. She rolled forward, coming up gun in hand. Aware of the fire behind her she ran forward. Coming through the thrown up dirt from the enemy Eva's volley into the next ridge. Emerging through the dirt she found herself face to face with the second enemy Eva, running down the same gully from the opposite direction. Both Evas, too shocked to react, collided headlong, Asuka lost her riffle in the process. Recovering quicker Asuka sprung to her feet and moved in to close on the enemy Eva. The enemy Eva was slower to react, bringing up its gun to fire at Asuka, but to late, Unit 02 did a sweeping kick before it could fire, Asuka's Eva's foot impacted against the gun, causing the magazine to explode, throwing both Evas back again. Asuka was again quicker to recover. Drawing her progressive knife she dove into the smoke caused by the exploding gun. The enemy unit however was more prepared this time, deflecting the thrust and throwing unit 02 against the Valley wall. Asuka landed hard and opened her eyes just in time to see the enemy unit close on her, its own knife at the ready. Deflecting the knife the attackers blow landed into the mountain next to Asuka's Eva's head.

"So you want to play rough do you!" screamed Asuka thrusting her own knife towards the neck of the enemy Eva. This in turn was stopped by the free hand of the enemy Eva and the two, holding each others knives, are caught in a battle of strength. Struggling, the two rolled back into the dirt clouds.

In the meantime however Shinji had not had it much easier. Having fired at Asuka's attacker he was preparing to go in when a stray shot from the falling Eva illuminated the third enemy Eva on top of a ridge someway off to his left, gun raised. Diving, Shinji was barely able to avoid the incoming fire. He scrambled for cover as the earth near him was torn to shreds by the fire. Sliding to a halt Shinji spun around and raised his gun to let off a volley at the new attacker. His rounds streaked across, forcing the 3rd enemy Eva to seek cover. Head raised Shinji took an aimed shot at the third attacker. His rifle ran out of ammunition and Shinji was forced to crouch. The enemy Eva utilised the lull to scamper over the ridge to close in on Shinji, firing as it moved. It itself ran out of ammunition and it sought cover, still about one kilometre away. Shinji huddled as the hillside again took a beating. Putting in the next clip he looked over to where Asuka was, he could see her still struggling with the other Eva about five kilometres away.

"Damn!" he spat, the whole operation was not going to plan at all.. Misato's face suddenly appeared on his screen.

"Shinji that's it!" she yelled "He's changing clips, make a run for the communications centre now! Once you have destroyed it swing back around and help Asuka you'll have cover over the other side."

Nodding, Shinji finished cocking is riffle. Without hesitation he started to run towards the centre. Firing a quick volley towards the position of the 3rd Eva. He turned his head back, concentrating on running. Huddling during the quick volley the third enemy Eva had finished reloading and had stepped out from its cover to line up a shot on the running unit 01.

"AAAAAAHH!" screamed Shinji, unit 01 activated super speed and the ground was ripped up by the tremendous velocity. Unprepared for the burst of speed the third enemy unit fire fell behind the racing Shinji. The hills behind Shinji exploded as he raced the last distance. Sprinting up the last ridge he jumped on the last step. Spinning in mid air Shinji brought his gun to bare at the dishes passing below him. Squeezing the trigger as he flew, the installation was raked with fire, explosions completely annihilating it. Shinji continued to fall, the fire from the enemy Eva still following just behind. Landing elegantly, Shinji rolled into a run, sprinting around the next ridge, one that would lead him around to Asuka.

Meanwhile Asuka and the enemy Eva were still locked in mortal combat. Rolling into the clearing Asuka found herself on top of the enemy. Teeth clenched Asuka tried to force down her knife into the head of the enemy Eva. The other pilot was quick however, rolling, it brought up its leg onto Asuka's torso, kicking out. Asuka flew over the top of the enemies head and landed hard on her back. Both Evas spun around and were up quickly. With Shinji still running around, and the 3rd enemy Eva out of range, the two were the only ones in combat. An eery silence fell as the two pilots square up to each other, circling slowly, knifes drawn. Asuka, aware of the time factor lunged, the enemy Eva was quick and deflected, spinning around with its own attack. Both Evas are evenly matched and after a couple of attacks they were again squared off. This time the enemy Eva moved first, Asuka countered and after a fierce exchange landed an elbow on the side of the enemy Eva's head. Stunned the enemy faltered, stumbling. Asuka followed up with a kick to the mid section, sending the enemy flying down the clearing away from the compound. Landing heavily the enemy had dropped its knife. Asuka shouted triumphantly, the fallen enemy slow to move, collapsing back down in its first attempt to rise. With the light of the flames from the compound behind her, Asuka moved forward towards the stricken Eva. About two hundred metres away she stopped, noticing a glint out of the corner of her eye as lightning again flashed around her, she turned. It was the first enemy Eva! One leg heavily damaged it was standing awkwardly on the other. It had taken all this time to get back around but now it was standing, gun in hand, with Asuka only four hundred metres away. Asuka froze, unable to move as it brought up its gun to fire, cringing she waited for the worst. Suddenly however Shinji appeared on the same ridge that the first enemy Eva had first appeared on when sneaking up on Asuka. Gun raised and in full run, Shinji fired on the damaged unit. Unable to calculate properly the failsafe could not function, Shinji's rounds impacting into the side torso, legs and arms of the armed enemy Eva. The rounds cut deep and the Eva fell heavily to its side. Impacting roughly, it slid to a halt, motionless. Shinji's momentum carried him over the ridge, and he finally slid to a halt five hundred metres from the fallen enemy Eva. Asuka, still frozen, stared as Shinji came to a halt.

"Thanks" said Asuka over the comm's link. Before Shinji could respond however a round impacted against Asuka's shoulder, the third enemy Eva had finally gotten into range. Firing while running, only the first two rounds of the long volley impacted on Asuka the rest falling all around.

"Quick, over the ridge!" shouted Shinji, sprinting over the ridge that Asuka's melee enemy had fallen on. Asuka, hurt slightly, ran forward to the fallen enemy unit, sending a vicious blow to the head, satisfied the unit was momentarily stunned she grabbed the Eva with her good arm and pulled it over the ridge with her. Just as they cleared the ridge the 3rd enemy unit had reloaded and sent another volley at them. Awaiting his turn Shinji raised and fired back, finally stopping the 3rd enemy Evas advance. Ducking for cover the enemy Eva dove behind a ridge as shots barley missed it, quickly recovering the enemy unit got into a firing position, and soon the two sides begin to exchange fire.

Asuka meanwhile had the second enemy unit pined to the ground. Shinji checked his comm's link, their connection back to Misato has been cut, all he had was a direct link to Asuka.

"So what do we do now?" asked Asuka panting. Her Eva's arm was now malfunctioning and she was effectively sitting on the enemy Eva, using her one hand to restrain it.

"Get him to eject, then I'll destroy the Eva" replied Shinji, firing another quick burst. "Use all channels."

Asuka looked down at the Eva, opening all frequencies she sent a signal.

"Ok you in there, give yourself up. Eject now and surrender and we'll spare your life" commanded Asuka, still angry at being injured. Shinji was still in the comm's loop and was shocked as the enemies link suddenly appeared on his screen.

"Mana?" exclaimed Shinji in shock. True enough on his screen appears Mana Kirashima, even though it had been one year, her features were unmistakable.

"Mana?" said Asuka, also shocked. Completely taken aback, Asuka let go, falling back to lean against the ridge.

"Shinji, Asuka" started Mana desperately, though suddenly shots flew close by Shinji. Completely surprised he had lifted his head, exposing it, a round from the third enemy Eva's volley had caused a gash on Eva 01 face. Shinji yelled out and ducked his head.

"Musashi" called out Mana "Stop firing!"

Shinji, still huddling, prepared to return fire. Looking back over the ridge, he could not see Musashi's Eva.

"Mana call him off!" yelled Shinji forcefully. "He's to open comms and indicate his position" he continued. Asuka and Mana looked at Shinji, not used to this forcefulness. Before either could answer however Musashi's screen comes up.

"Why the hell should I show you where I am Ikari, you have already dropped Keita" came the snide voice of Musashi. "Not to mention the people you killed at the installation. How do I know you won't simply finish me and Mana off as well?" he sneered. Shinji, shocked, replied desperately.

"I wouldn't do that! I love…" he stoped suddenly, looking at Mana's screen briefly, the pause lingered uncomfortably. "You know I wouldn't do that" he shot back. Angered at his slip up, he moved up towards Asuka and Mana, scampering up the hill to a new firing position.

"Shinji! Musashi! Stop!" came the distraught voice of Mana. "This isn't getting us anywhere. Musashi they had no way of knowing it was us. And I know.." Mana hesitated a little "Shinji wouldn't do something like that." Shinji and Musashi looked at Mana then at each other. Suddenly a massive burst of light immerged from two ridges away. Musashi was firing into the air, showing his position, he had used his last burst as cover to cross the clearing and was now behind the ridge that Shinji had crossed to fire at Keita. Now that everyone had calmed down a strange quiet returned to the battlefield, the heavy rain still audible to all the pilots as it bounced off their Evas. Suddenly Keita appeared on the lower screen, his entry plug red with emergency lights.

"Keita you're alive!" said Mana happily.

"Yah, looks like my systems are down but I've managed to re rout some emergency power. That was some nice shooting Shinji" said Keita weakly.

"I'm sorry Keita, I'm glad you're alright!" said Shinji, greatly relieved. Musashi in the other screen was not so sure but was happy to see Keita ok.

"You did well Keita" said Musashi. "He got off a lucky shot originally, you fought well."

"Sorry for interrupting" interrupted Asuka "But what exactly are you three doing here fighting for SEELE?"

"Wait a second, are you all in communications with SEELES command?" interrupted Shinji.

"No not at the moment, the atmospheric conditions are getting in the way" replied Mana.

"Good lets keep it that way, I'm going to move to the top of the ridge, Musashi you do the same and we'll open up a line of sight link only, agreed? "

Shinji looked at the monitors. One after another they all nodded. Expecting to be the only one moving Shinji was surprised when all the mobile Evas joined him on top of the ridge. Soon all four mobile Evas were sitting on the ridges in full view of each other, Keitas unit occupying the Valley between them. Mana had helped the damaged Asuka up, sitting close to her. Soon the microwave link was established.

"So what's going on exactly?" asked Asuka again. There was a silence as the three pilots formulated their responses. Mana took the initiative.

"After I said goodbye to you back in Tokyo 3 Musashi, Keita and myself were taken to a remote location. And held for questioning. We were kept there for some time, under arrest."

Shinji expression turned a little dark. Mana was looking at him.

"About a year ago suddenly everything changed. We were told that NERV had split from the organisation and gone rogue. We were offered to be reunited with our parents and friends if we would pilot for SEELE. Naturally we jumped at the opportunity. " she said a little guiltily.

"It was the sensible thing to do" interrupted Musashi. "After we joined up we were told the truth about NERV"

"What truth?" asked Asuka accusingly.

"That NERV was planing to orchestrate 3rd impact. That they were planing to destroy mankind in some religious martyrdom" replied Musashi.

"That's not our plan, that's SEELES" retorted Asuka.

"Its irrelevant in the end" came the quiet voice of Keita, somehow his weakened voice was more effective in grabbing attention then Asuka's or Musashi's shouting.

"Continue Mana" he said.

Mana looked at him gratefully, continuing.

"Well after we got back, some of us decided that we didn't want to fight any more" Mana looked over at Musashi, who turned away with a scowl on his face.

"And that's when it got nasty" Keita interjected.

"We were told that if we didn't fight the safety of our parents would no longer be guaranteed" Mana said, looking away.

"Not only that, but if we failed in combat…." said Keita quietly. "There would be a similar review of our parents health"

"Those bastards!" spat Shinji.

"So you see, we had to fight" said Mana sadly.

"Though you didn't have to go for the kill shot!" interrupted Asuka coldly, she was looking at Mana accusingly.

"What , what do you mean" Mana replied, hurt. "We were going for the head, that should have simply disabled you, we all decided this a long time ago"

"Well, I'm afraid that's another lie you've been told" said Asuka coldly "In Evas the nerve feedback is simply to strong, a head-shot on your Eva, is effectively a head-shot on you" she said. All three of the SELLE pilots looked shocked at this.

"I'm… I'm sorry" said Mana sadly.

"That's ok you weren't to know" said Shinji, still emotional from her comments before.

"Goes to show that everything about SEELE is a lie. They're not the ones trying to stop third impact, they're the ones trying to start it" continued Shinji. "And if they succeed everyone, including your parents, will die"

"We still don't know if that's the truth either." said Musashi defiantly. "All we know is that if we don't fight and win, our parents die. So this is all I can do at the moment, you can't expect me to sacrifice them to simply trust you!" he said with distain.

"Why you little!" spat Asuka, her Eva making to get up.

"Asuka!" yelled Shinji, stoping unit 02 in its tracks. " Calm down, he's right, we would do the same. Lets think about this."

Asuka's Eva lent back down. Shinji, out of the corner of his eye, saw Musashi's Eva do the same, he had been preparing to ready himself. Silence returned once more, Shinji could see the depressed faces of the SEELE fighters, they really couldn't see anyway out. Suddenly he hit on an idea.

"What about if we were able to get your parents out?" he asked suddenly. "Do you know where they are being held?" he asked. Mana looked up a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

"Yes, back at our main base." she said hopefully.

"They use them as constant reminders of our agreement" said Keita hatefully.

"Its no use." interrupted Musashi. "We don't know where that is. We are only given tactical data from our temporary staging areas, other then that we don't know where we, or our base, are at all."

Again Shinji thought for a while.

"If we can locate them and get them out, what then?" he speculated.

"Well then I suppose we might be open to defect." said Musashi arrogantly "But you still haven't said how you'll do this." he crossed his arms defiantly.

"I have a plan. Mana I'm going to come over, I want you to eject your entry plug I'm going to give you my emergency bacon from my plug suite." said Shinji his Eva already moving.

"Great idea!" said Asuka enthusiastically.

"Won't our side detect the signal though?" asked Keita.

"No stupid" replied Asuka. "Each beacon has its own frequency, set so only its double can pick up its location effectively, no other equipment will be able to pinpoint it." she finished, then added "Musashi, in the meantime you use your internal navigation system to draw up a detailed plan as close as possible to your bases layout."

Mana was already moving towards Shinji.

"This is crazy, you're just going to launch an aerial strike on us. How can we trust you!" said Musashi impatiently."

Shinji looked straight into Mana's eyes, the sincerity apparent on his face.

"I trust him" she said softly.

"Me to" came the voice of Keita "Those SEELE bastards have done nothing but lie to us, I don't see any other way out, as risky as it might be."

Musashi looked down at his screen, all the other pilots were looking at him expectantly.

"ARRRG. Fine!" he spat, lowering his link to work on the map.

Shinji and Mana had finally closed together, Shinji had retrieved his progressive knife and had placed it near the ground. Lowering his Eva, he manually ejected. Sliding down the wet side of his Eva he looked across to see a figure doing the same, the rain was still coming down hard and thunderclaps and lightning strikes still filled the air. The two pilots raced towards each other meeting up right next to Shinji's progressive knife. Slowing down a bit, Shinji finally saw the face of the girl he had last seen over a year ago. Mana did the same, but then moved forward to throw herself at Shinji, the two catching each other in a fond embrace.

"Shinji, it's so good to see you again" Mana said overjoyed. Shinji just hugged her back happily. Soon however he broke the embrace.

"We have to hurry, we have both been quiet on the comm's for too long, soon our sides will begin to wonder."

Nodding, Mana let him go and Shinji removed the top part of his plug suite. Using the giant blade of the progressive knife he cut into his plug suit, leaving himself only dressed from the navel down, working quickly he isolated the internal beacon, about the size of a computer mouse with an antenna. Putting the remains of his plug suite back on he presented the beacon to Mana,

"You know how to activate this?" he asked her.

"Yes, our's is almost identical" she replied. Taking the beacon in her hands the two simply looked at each other, the rain falling around them. Shinji had a weak smile on his face.

"You know your quite quwai in that plug suite" he said finally. Mana, blushed slightly, remembering back to their first meeting.

"This time I will be waiting for you Shinji Ikari" Mana said, repeating the last words Shinji had said to her.

"We had better get going" said Shinji finally. Mana looked at him, her face turning to a frown, she was still unable to move. Shinji, noticing her down turned expression, suddenly stepped forward, and placing his hand lightly on her face and guided himself in for a tender kiss. Water falling all around them and lightning illuminating the sky, the two stood there for a while, locked together. Finally Shinji broke away, stepping back he said.

"I'll see you soon Mana"

And with that he turned to run back to his Eve. Mana watched him go

"I'll see you soon" she said quietly, then turned to run to her own Eva.

Back in the Eva, Shinji reinstated his local comms. Set to standard, Asuka's screen came up first, revealing a cool but somehow very puzzling face of Asuka.

"Lucky you. Kissing two girls in less then three days" said Asuka. Shinji, still daydreaming about Mana snapped back to reality, he looked at Asuka carefully as his Eva's systems re-initialised.

"Yah I suppose so" he said evenly, uncertain how to proceed. Though suddenly his protocol re-booted and the external feeds came on line, soon all pilots were back in communication.

"Well that's it, the file is transferred." said Musashi, his disapproval still obvious. "We had better move out, we've been out of the loop for about five minutes now".

"Well good luck you three" said Asuka more cheerfully, she looked at Mana "We'll wait for you to cross the ridge. Then we re-initialise external comms and fire some rounds at each other for show, ok" she said more seriously. Musashi, nodding, had already moved down the ridge to help Keita up. Getting to his fallen comrade he threw his rifle at Mana who promptly caught it. Mana and Shinji started to look at each other again.

"Well you had better move it little girl, I start shooting in thirty seconds" said Asuka, her comms line switching off. She had moved next to Shinji and snatched his rifle away from him.

"Good luck Keita, Musashi" said Shinji, nodding the two pilots comms lines switched off. He looked back to Mana.

"You know when to activate that?" he asked her.

"As soon as I hide it somewhere safe." she said back. More confidently the two shared a quick smile.

"Good luck" Shinji said simply, giving her a wink he switched off his comms. Left standing Mana watched him back off, while Asuka, with her one good arm, reloaded her rifle more animatedly. Realising she wasn't joking Mana turned to run to her comrades. Reaching them quickly she helped Musashi lift Keita over the ridge, only a millisecond after reaching cover, the hills behind them started to explode with fire. Ducking hurriedly the earth and dust enveloped the three. Turning Mana fired at Asuka's position. Comms re-established it didn't take long for both sides command and control to reconnect with their respective pilots. Back in combat mode, Mana and Musashi mounted an effective counter attack, driving off Asuka and Shinji, now armed with only one rifle. As Asuka was still damaged the get-away became a close issue, Shinji having to throw his progressive knife at Mana to keep her back at one stage. Misato's commands proved effective and soon the battle was disengaged.

Congratulations all round, Misato praised both pilots for their efforts, for some odd reason not noticing that Shinji had a hole in his plug suit. Wary about the signal being monitored, Shinji and Asuka gave a dodgy appraisal of the (blacked out stage of the fighting). Misato, a little doubtful, let the matter rest, for now.

In the control centre Ritsuko was back on line, the Lance of Loginous's final landing position was being calculated.

Misato gone, Asuka and Shinji were again left alone. With still thirty minutes of walking ahead of them, they walked side by side casually. Microwave link re-established they were free to talk.

"Well I never saw that one coming" said Shinji jokingly. Asuka was looking ahead, tired.

"Do you really think it will work" she said, seriously.

"Well I hope so" said Shinji, serious now himself. "If we have to face them again, there most likely won't be another blackout we can use."

A frown crossed his face.

"And I don't want to have to think about what will happen then." he said staring forward again, a silence fell between the two. The storm had finally abated, the rain now easing to a light sporadic shower. Suddenly Asuka spoke.

"You really do have a lousy taste in woman, you know that" she said mischievously.

"What?" replied Shinji, honestly confused.

"Lets see, of the two woman you live with, one is a violent, energetic and opinionated, and the other is a recovering emotionless doll who is at least half Angel, and cloned from your mother." Asuka said happily. Shinji, still confused, gave her an odd look.

"And considering you were just in a fire fight with your first love, I would say that you are probably better off becoming a priest in the future."

She finished with a smile.

Shinji looking at her for a second, then he chuckled.

"That wont be necessary" he said confidently.

"No?"

"You'll always be there to look after me" Shinji said with feeling. Asuka looked over at him, their eyes meeting and holding.

"Damn right Shinji Ikari" she said sweetly. Smiling, the two continued through the night.

Well there you go, combat, Eva style. Now that I think of it having Girlfriend of steel characters makes it really easy to incorporate more Eva pilots. And the storyline just keeps getting more interesting for good old Shinji.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 3: Autumn harvest & A comfy Winter**

I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion, its just a fan-fiction, read and enjoy.

Some feedback to my reviewers:

Dennisud: Thanks for the continued support, It means a lot coming from an accomplished fan-fiction author like yourself, I hope the ending is somewhere as good as you hoped, and I can't wait for the next update to your stories… Thanks again.

Steve Vader: Thanks for the lengthy and accurate appraisal, I will be the first to admit writing was never my strong point, indeed I have always had tendency to write phonetically, something that gets me into trouble with words that sound the same, but something I am working at. For my first fan-fiction I am quite happy with the results, but will work heard to improve, though most importantly for me is that the story has been well thought out and enjoyable, which it appears to have been. In my defence, regarding the spelling for Soryu and Kensuke, I got the spelling from the official ADAM and EVE books printed in German. Thanks again for your input, and I may take you up on that offer for further assistance in the future… well hope you enjoy the last chapter!

**3.1 High noon**

Authors notes:

Final combat scene coming up, bit of everything here, sort of a cross between a spaghetti western and 7 samurai, with robots. Surprisingly not too over the top, and a lot of fun.

Shinji and Asuka arrived back at their staging area to find the airfield abuzz with activity.

Returning their Evas to their holding area the two pilots descended the makeshift stairs to meet with a smiling Misato. Dispensing with the pleasantries Shinji immediately told Misato the truth about the combat with the SEELE Evas. Shocked, Misato simply listened as Asuka and Shinji explained.

Soon the pilots and the tactical commander found themselves in conference with the other NERV senior staff, including Rei. Everyone was present, bar Kaji. All were impressed with Shinji's and Asuka's quick thinking and Gendo apologised for not having informed Shinji of Mana's situation earlier, but until now he himself had been unsure. Shinji was slightly irritated, but knew the logic behind his father not having informed him of speculation, and he let the issue slide. Ritsuko informed the pilots that the lance was expected to re-enter the atmosphere in about twenty-four hours, though the Magi would not be able to pinpoint the exact impact point for another five hours. Given this scenario it was highly likely that SEELE would mobilise its entire assets to retrieve the item.

Things had changed in the last three months, skilful counterintelligence by NERV and the sheer weight and complexity of SEELES lies and deceit were gradually bringing about the downfall of the organisation. The American government was beginning to doubt SEELES motivation, as the secretive organisation simply couldn't transform itself into a public organisation and still hide the truth effectively. It was quite simply, running out of time.

But desperate times called for desperate measures. Many favours had been called in, many bridges burnt, SEELES last role of the dice was in play. Shinji asked about the importance of the Lance of Logenous. Gendo answered, stating that the lance represented a unique item, one that allowed the initiation of third impact even with the limited resources that SEELE now possessed, there was more then one way to generate third impact. Rei asked about what other resources SEELE had, NERVE after all had unit 01 and Lilith, and Adam had been destroyed. Gendo looked at the pilots and over at Ritsuko, who looked back sympathetically, knowing what was to come.

"They have Kaworu." he said evenly. Misato, Shinji and Asuka looked shocked, even Rei looked surprised.

"Kaworu … Kaworu's alive?" said Shinji eventually. Gendo continued to explain that this also had only become recent knowledge, though it had been heavily suspected.

"It shouldn't come as such a surprise" said Gendo evenly. "Given Kaworu's similarities to Rei, I suspect you all knew deep down how Kaworu came to be."

He continued to say that it appeared that Kaworu was the basis for the dummy plug systems encountered in the unmanned Evas. Though this information was now largely irrelevant, because soon the last showdown would occur. Asuka interjected, asking how the third impact could be caused without Adam. All turned expectantly to Gendo. He stated that Rei had been born from Lilith but Kaworu had been born from Adam. Though not a complete copy, with the help of the lance of logenous Kaworu possessed enough power to generate 3rd impact. All Kaworu would need was someone born from Lilith, a human soul. His ability to initiate third impact last time was due to his contact with unit 00, his proximity to Lilith, and the intervention of the AT field of the second Angel, Rei. Silence returned as Asuka gave Rei a worried look. Though Asuka had long since been told that Rei was at least partly Angel, this was the first time that she had heard her designated as the second.

"So what is the objective commander" asked Misato, recovering the quickest.

"Quite simple major" replied Gendo. "We must reach the Lance of Logenous first, and destroy it."

There was a sharp intake of breath from the participants in general.

"Is that even possible?" asked Fuyuzuki, this comment in itself almost as shocking, being one of the first questions asked by Fuyuzuki that the others had ever heard.

"Theoretically, yes" replied Ritsuko. "We simply need to use two Evas working together, one spreading its AT field the other using the progressive knife."

"Destroying it is not the problem" said Gendo. "Its getting to it first that will prove to be most difficult."

"The enemy has the same Magi that we do" stated Ritsuko.

"Three Evas verses four manned, and at least seven unmanned Evas" said Misato disheartened.

"Thanks to Shinji that may no longer be a problem." said Gendo evenly. "If the defection is organised it will be six verses eight" he paused for effect, "therefore all our resources must now go to these two endeavours."

Again another pause.

"Professor Fuyuzuki" said Gendo "I want you and Makoto to make your way immediately to Kajis location, you will organise the safe retrieval of the families".

"Yes Sir" replied Fuyuzuki, immediately turning to leave, indicating to Makoto to follow, the two were quickly out of the room. Turning back from watching them leave, Shinji spoke.

"What about Kaworu" he said, slightly moody. "I don't want to fight him, is there no way to avoid this." he continued, though hope was absent from his voice.

"I'm sorry Shinji" said Gendo, feeling apparent in his voice. "But just like Rei, every time Kaworu is brought back, his previous memory is destroyed."

"But Rei now remembers a lot of what happened to her before." said Asuka optimistically, though without real conviction.

"And that took three months" said Ritsuko. "It won't be possible to convince Kaworu of anything even if you are able to open communications channels with him"

"He will not turn" came the quiet voice of Rei. Surprised, all turned to look at her.

"One year ago, I would have simply followed orders" Rei continued. "Kaworu has not had the benefit of my experiences" she said simply, though looking at Shinji with feeling. Shinji looked away, recognising the truth but not being happy about it. An awkward silence returned to the communications room…. Everyone caught in the gravity of the situation.

"Well this is the big one" said Misato suddenly, power and purpose evident in her otherwise calm voice.

"One more fight and we can finally have some peace" she continued. Everyone else nodded in similar grim determination. The meeting broke up, as the pilots went off to help with the imminent relocation procedure.

During the next few hours Shinji and Asuka were occasionally updated of the general situation and strategy. It was decided that during the upcoming combat a general link would remain active so that upon contact with the three SEELE pilots a direct lead would be transmitted showing them that their families had been brought into safety, at which point they would hopefully defect. However it would all be a close thing as the operation to free the families could only begin moments earlier so the defection would remain a surprise.

About three hours later they were informed that the landing zone had been narrowed down to Africa, a late last ditch effort coordinated from Australia by SEELE, having corrected the descent to avoid a water impact.

Shinji was beginning to worry about Mana, as no signal had been received from the emergency beacon he had given her. However just as they were getting on the now packed transports to move out Misato contacted him to say that a signal had just been picked up, and that Fuyuzuki, Makoto and Kaji were on rout.

Asuka and Shinji were on a different transport to Misato but she would connect through to them with updates occasionally. About two hours into the flight she informed them that they would be landing in Zimbabwe. Rei was on route and from there they would deploy to the final landing site. About half an hour later it was confirmed that SEELE had organised a massive airlift to the Congo, Satellite images had picked up approximately, twelve large transporters. So that was it. They could expect to be facing eight unmanned Evas as well as Kaworu, assuming that the defection worked as planned.

Asuka and Shinji were sitting alone towards the back of the large plain, the sounds of the engines at maximum velocity making conversation impossible. Lost in his own thoughts, Shinji drifted in and out of sleep.

In Shinji's mind the events of the last year were playing out.

"Kaworu" Shinji said to himself.

Though he had only known him for a short while Shinji had been greatly effected by Kaworu. And now that he was able to look back at the events with a degree of impartiality and greater understanding, Shinji had developed a high regard for the 17th Angel as a being. The thought of having to fight him again did not sit well. Remembering back to their first fight Shinji cringed at the recollection. Suddenly the images in his head turned to his fight with Toji.

'How many people had suffered at my hands' he thought to himself. Then images of Makoto appeared, telling him that there had been no other option. But there had been an option, It had been (his) choice. He remembered back to the guilt he had felt. It had been his choice, the objective had to be accomplished, there was no choice in that. However, how it was accomplished had been in his control, and he had chosen against taking control. Being a coward, taking no responsibility, he had allowed others to act on his behalf, then he had blamed them for their actions. Actions, responsibility, Shinji thought about the words. He had stayed hidden behind his inaction, passivity had been his saviour, his argument against any responsibility, but in the end the inactivity 'had' been a choice, and through that inactivity the consequences of that decision had remained, on him. Having given the responsibility to others he had simply forfeited his control. Shinji roused from his slumber as the plane went through a bit of turbulence. Waking up he lazily looked over at Asuka, who was sleeping peacefully. Shinji looked at her for a while. Sleeping, she was a totally different person, all calm and relaxed, even though she hadn't had much reason to relax lately. Shinji thought back to a few nights ago. It was such a pity, he thought sadly, that after all this time, she had finally had the opportunity to take some steps on tackling her own demons, but just as she had found some peace, the outside world would not allow her to enjoy it. He continued to look at her for a while. Absent-mindedly his hand had started to clench and unclench itself. His expression hardened slightly as he thought about the upcoming fight. Suddenly however his eyes sprang open, he looked down at his hand, palm still open. Taking his hand he observed it, closing and opening it slowly.

"I will take control" he said to himself quietly, his hand still open. "I will protect them all" he said more defiantly, and with extreme feeling, he was still looking at his hand, satisfied that he had proven a point to himself he clenched his hand into a fist, nodding he took another look at Asuka before leaning back into his chair to get some more sleep.

Shinji and Asuka were both awoken upon landing.

The plane came to a stop. Getting out, the pilots found themselves in a similar climate to the one they had just left, hot and sticky, though now it was more open landscape, the airbase they were at was located in light scrub and sparse woodland. It was a larger airbase than the last one they had been at, military aircraft could be seen lined up along one side. Their Evas had just arrived, but looking over they could see Unit 00 already prepared to take off again.

"Rei must be here already" stated Asuka happily. Looking around they spotted Misato talking to some officers a way off. They rushed over, Misato telling them they had to suit up immediately, the orders to go could come at any time. Begrudgingly the two agreed, making there way over to the indicated barracks quickly so that they could get back to finding Rei. Entering they were surprised to find Rei already there, changed into her plug suite and sitting on the couch, reading a small book.

"Rei!" exclaimed Shinji happily. Rei, smiling, got up, and Shinji move to go greet her, when Rei suddenly said.

"You had better get changed into your plug-suits first"

Shinji stoped in his tracks.

"Oh yes you're right" he said, sweat drop forming. Asuka gave Rei a smile

"Always the pro" she said happily, pushing Shinji towards a door.

"Anyway I think you've done enough greeting of old friends of late." Asuka continued, with a slight snide undertone. Shinji, protesting, gave her a shocked look. Rei looked questioningly after the two as the disappeared. Shinji got changed quickly but Asuka was already back before him when he re-entered the common room. He walked in just as Asuka finished her sentence, but he didn't catch the drift, both girls turned to look at him.

"Asuka was just telling me about your reunion with pilot Kirashema" said Rei with a smile, Asuka turned around and gave Shinji a wink. Hesitantly Shinji moved over to the girls, sitting down at the table they were at.

"I would have thought you girls would have more interesting things to talk about then how I greeted Mana" said Shinji hesitantly.

"Actually I found the farewell a whole lot more interesting" said Asuka evilly. "Even you should realise by now, matters of the heart are far more important to a girl then trivial things like combat." she continued, ending on a sweeter note. Shinji gave her an unbelieving look.

"That, coming from you Asuka?" he said. Asuka shrugged her shoulders.

"I can change can't I" she said happily. "Anyway even I don't want to have to talk about serious matters all the time" she finished neutrally, the happiness being drained out of her during that last sentence. An unhappy silence started to develop between the three.

"What will you do when you have to face her on the field Ikari" said Rei sombrely. Shinji looked from her to the ground.

"I don't know" he said at last.

"If all goes to plan they will defect immediately" he said slowly. "But if something goes wrong, well… there are too many things that can happen." he finished. Asuka looked at Rei, frowning she turned back towards Shinji.

"I hope me and Rei can rely on you out there Ikari" she said evenly, but not coldly.

Shinji looked back up at Asuka then over at Rei who was looking at him expectantly. Rei, while having become much more emotional, was still one to follow orders. Shinji knew that she still had a rather ambiguous interpretation to a lot of things, that did not immediately concern the people she knew. Looking back at Asuka he said in a decisive voice.

"We have only one 'must' objective out there. And that is to destroy the Lance of Logenous. My second objective is to help the other pilots defect if it goes that way" he looked at his fellow pilots.

"Lets just destroy that bloody thing and make sure everyone gets back safely ok" he said. Asuka and Rei looked from Shinji to each other, then nodded approvingly. Silence returned, as each pilot thought about the fight to come. Rei, being the least in need of reflection recovered first and interrupted the others train of thought by saying.

"Before I forget, Kensuka, Hikari and Toji all say hello, and wish you both the best of luck."

Suddenly brought out of their thoughts, Shinji and Asuka looked at Rei.

"Thanks" said Shinji lightly. All wished to avoid the serious atmosphere of the moment so the conversation quickly turned to matters back home. The three pilots enjoyed a nice long chat about all the things that were unimportant in life. They even managed a few laughs when Rei told them about PenPens antics while they were away. They chatted for about an hour when suddenly there was a knock on the door, a young lieutenant told them that they were about to move out, and the three should report to Misato immediately. Going over to the control room, they found Misato poring over some maps. Shinji was shocked to see Gendo and Ritsuko there as well, for some reason he hadn't assumed that they would come down as well. Gendo called the three pilots over. The pilots gathered around the large map table, it displayed a barren hilly landscape. Shinji looked at the corner of the map, it was in Libya. The briefing was quick and to the point, the landing area of the lance had been narrowed down to an area with a radius of about fifty kilometres. All three Evas were to take off immediately, briefing would occur on route in the Evas. The pace was hectic and everyone was swept with a sense of urgency. There was no time for pleasantries, nodding in agreement the three pilots left immediately, even before the staff had time to wish them luck. Racing to the transporters it was only as they prepared to part from each other that the gravity of the situation was starting to sink in a little. This was it! Slowing a little Shinji came to a stop, Asuka, also slowing, turned to him.

"What's the matter?" asked Asuka. Rei in the meantime had stoped as well.

"I just wanted to wish you both luck before we split up… that's all" he said calmly, if a little out of breath. Asuka gave him a slightly annoyed look but then it turned into a wry smile.

"We don't have time for this, you sympathetic fool" she said in an irritated tone, but her face was smiling.

"Rei come over here" she said, turning to Rei while walking towards Shinji. Shinji a little surprised simply walked towards the girls. Coming together Asuka quickly threw an arm around both Shinji and Rei, forcing the two into a tangled hug before they knew what hit them. Reacting quickly the other two joined in and for a short second they embraced before pulling back slightly, still arm in arm.

"Will that do?" said Asuka jokingly.

"Lets make sure we come back in one piece" said Shinji, ignoring Asuka's comment and looking from one pilot to the other.

"Lets do this" said Rei with a determined wry smile. It was one of the most emotional faces that Asuka or Shinji had ever seen from Rei, causing them to mimic in kind. The three nodded determinedly, then broke up and ran to their respective transport.

Soon the three were airborne in their Eva's transports. The Evas being located under the massive transports that carried them around the world. Shinji looked out of the small window of his own transport, flanking his plane he could see the transports carrying unit 00 and unit 02. As well as a communications aircraft. He suspected that the command crew were in it. He was still looking when the lap-top that had been set up for him started flashing. Going over he saw the faces of Asuka, Rei, Misato, Ritsuko and Gendo on small comm's screens overlaying at the edge of a tactical map. Due to the noise of the engines Shinji had to put on his headphones before he could hear any of the others. Shinji had guessed correctly, it appeared all the NERV command staff were on the other aircraft. For security reasons a very unusual event, there were hostile aircraft in the area after all. But it appeared that the current situation had meant the end of a lot of old procedures. Both sides were risking all on this last endeavour.

"Shinji can you hear me?" asked Misato.

"Yes" replied Shinji.

"O.K then" continued Misato "We have been trying all channels, negotiations with the Libyan government has broken down".

"Have they sided with SEELE?" asked Shinji nervously.

"No" replied Gendo "Thankfully they have claimed sole sovereignty. Unfortunately SEELE did not negotiate aggressively as usual and Libya has denied everyone entry into their territory."

"But that won't stop SEELE" exclaimed Asuka exasperatedly.

"We know that, and that's why we are proceeding with our plans." said Misato. Shinji and Asuka gave a worried look.

"Isn't that a bit risky for both sides? We are all vulnerable in the air. We can't take on the Libyan airforce." said Asuka.

"True" continued Gendo "However we have no choice but to proceed as far as we can, and deploy the Evas upon contact with aerial interceptors."

Shinji and Asuka did not look pleased at this contingency.

"It shouldn't come to that anyway. Strangely, both SEELE and NERV have allies in the African Coalition Congress and they have applied significant pressure onto the Libyans. I doubt they will try to intercept. The engagement area is after all in the middle of nowhere." he finished.

"Small comfort" remarked Asuka in a lowered voice.

"One upshot is that no strike aircraft, from either side, have been allowed to take off in African airspace." said Misato. "This means it's all between the Evas"

There was relative silence, the turbines of the aircraft screamed at full throttle, still quite audible through the fuselage as well as the headphones.

"Six Verses nine" said Rei thoughtfully. The others looked at her.

"That's assuming that they defect" said Shinji unhappily. Asuka looked over at him, it was one of the first truly negative sentences Shinji had spoken in about a year, and somehow hearing it now made it doubly dark.

"There's good news on that front" said Ritsuko enthusiastically, trying to lift the spirit of everyone connected.

"Kaji and Fuyuzuki and Makoto are in position with the NERV special forces unit, commanded by captain Moyo. They are waiting for the signal."

"Fuyuzuki's actually on the ground?" said Asuka surprised.

"Don't worry I doubt weather he is going to take part in any actual combat" said Misato smiling. The idea of Fuyuzuki in combat fatigue and crawling through the jungle brought a smile to everyone's face.

"Now back to business" reminded Gendo "They will reach the area first, most likely they will set up a defensive perimeter around the expected impact site". An image came up on the screen showing the projected location of the enemy units, the circle was about ten kilometres in diameter, Kaworu was located in the centre and the manned Evas were evenly spaced out in the surrounding circle.

"Its unlikely they will risk Kaworu in combat" said Misato.

"If the piloted Evas are spread out like that, how can we organise for an effective defection?" asked Asuka concerned.

"Unfortunately we can't" said Misato, the sadness evident in her voice. More images appeared on the screen showing the deployment of the three NERV Evas together and their attack on three unmanned Evas between two of the maned Evas in the circle.

"Hopefully this will allow two of the three to join you and you can sweep left in superior numbers." Continued Misato, the scenario predictions playing out on the screen.

"And what about the third?" asked Shinji unimpressed.

"Hopefully they will have time to get away and join you later in the fight." said Misato seriously.

"This plan has the highest probability for success" said Ritsuko suddenly. "And also a very high chance that all pilots will survive"

"But not the highest, isn't that nice" said Asuka annoyed. There was a short pause as Misato and Asuka exchanged glares.

"You all know what's at stake here" came the controlled voice of Gendo. "If we fail in the destruction of the lance, there is no hope for any of us" he finished, all pilots looked at his screen.

"Yes sir" said Rei evenly. Asuka and Shinji nodded.

"We can only hope that the other pilots react correctly" continued Ritsuko.

"You didn't really come up with a concise plan when you thought this whole thing up" she finished.

"Well excuse me!" said Asuka defensively. "Its not like we had a chance to think this all through you know" she finished. Ritsuko gave her an impatient look.

"They're well trained" interrupted the voice of Shinji.

"There are to many factors yet unknown, we can only deal with them as they arise" reasoned Gendo evenly. Shinji nodded.

The briefing continued and the three pilots were given a list of scenarios, actions and counter measures. Soon an hour had past and all three were asked to enter their respective Evas. Climbing in and activating their systems, soon they were back in the loop, Asuka complained that her left arm still felt a little funny. Ritsuko answered saying there had not been time or facilities to do a proper job, in fact other then superficial armour replacement the only thing that had been achieved was the reconnection of her nerve control. The time for deployment was approaching, the massive NERV transport plane had just crossed the Libyan border. Gendo appeared on screen, radar had picked up the SEELE formation off to the west, they were heading away, they could make out eleven transports.

"Eleven?" Said Shinji.

"six verses eight" came the voice of Asuka smiling.

"Keep quite you two" came Misatos voice "thirty seconds till deployment".

All three pilots prepared themselves. Weapons in hand the counters counted down, 5 ……. 4…… 3…… 2…. 1… deploy!

High above the desert landscape the catches holding the Evas in place under their planes released. Massive gushes of hydraulic pressure spewing out behind the transports. Moving, slowly at first, unit 02 slid smoothly backwards, until it suddenly fell free. Left and right of it unit 00 and unit 01 did the same, seemingly floating the three Evas began the fast descent to the earth. Falling ever faster the three Evas looked down as the earth rushed up to meet them. Waiting until they were one thousand metres above the earth the three Evas activated their thrusters, slowing there descent until they landed heavily on the earth below. A massive cloud of dust erupted around the three figures, and they were lost to the planes now circling above.

Soon however, three dark figures could be made out in the dust-cloud. And suddenly appearing from one side were the massive walking figures of the three Evas. Gleaming in the sun all three Evas had extra battery packs attached. Stopping for a second to orientate themselves. Of the three Evas Unit 00 was holding a sniper riffle, with a revolver strapped to her hip. Shinji and Asuka were both holding assault rifles, extra ammo slung around their shoulders.

"You have one hour people, move out!" came the voice of Misato back on the screen. Shinji, Rei and Asuka nodded, together the three began to run towards the engagement area.

Running Shinji had a chance to look at the landscape. It was a dry desolate place, devoid of life, the continual expanses of yellow, red and white extended from horizon to horizon. It was far from plain though, plateaus and monoliths dotted the landscape, and canyons and crevasses cris crossed it, the elevation was very varied, and the Evas had to scamper up and down valleys and run around plateaus. This did however allow the three to travel relatively undetected.

Shinji mused that this hellish landscape was a rather perfect setting for the final confrontation to stop the abortion of mankind.

In his Eva, Shinji looked up. As expected he could see the NERV command aircraft high above, its powerful radar searching the landscape. Suddenly however Shinji's long range sensors started to give out.

"What's going on?" he asked worryingly.

"Its simply enemy jamming, we are doing the same." came the calm voice of Misato. "Both sides will have to rely on short range sensors and sight." she finished.

"Looks like it's all down to old style close combat" said Asuka determinedly. The three Evas continued to race towards the target. Five minutes later they had approached the target area. They had stayed in-between a series of ridges to avoid contact.

"Two minutes until contact." said Asuka to comm's. The three Evas stopped, Rei carefully crept up a ridge to scout out the area. Raising her rifle she used the scope to scan the landscape below.

There he was, Kaworu, or at least Rei assumed that was him. The Eva standing at the centre of the target area was menacing . Black with red trimmings it had a similar build to unit 01, only without the horn. He was holding a massive staff with two huge spheres at either end, it did not appear to be a combat weapon, Rei focused on the figure, it also appeared to have a sword, slung around its waist.

"A sword?" asked Asuka.

"Remember that Kaworu is very powerful" said Shinji wearily. "Who knows what he's capable of, let alone inside an Eva".

"What's the other thing" asked Asuka again.

"I do not know" said Rei. She looked around further. Between Kaworu and them was an unmanned Eva. Skulking around it was holding a massive dual bladed weapon, the same type that they had used against Shinji and Asuka before. Looking around she made out another four scattered in the area and she saw one of the manned Eva far off in the distance, so far in fact it was almost lost in the heat haze. It was hold up behind a monolith, armed with an assault rifle and a sword, next to it was a UM unit, standing there with its black weapon in hand, they were obviously guarding the far approach.

"I only spot one of the defector's units" said Rei calmly. But then she spotted another two UM units also armed with hand weapons.

"Those units are obviously incapable of using ranged weapons effectively" came Ritsuko's voice.

"This should be easy" said Asuka confidently.

"They don't stand a chance against us once we get the other gunners on our side" she continued her voice almost relieved.

"Don't be so sure Asuka" said Misato adding caution to her words.

"Wait a second, go back to the first two UM units you saw" commanded Misato. Rei complied, coming back to them just before they moved out of sight, one was armed with assault rifle and sword just like the maned unit, he was also moving much more fluently then its companion.

"What the?" said Asuka.

"Of course!" exclaimed Shinji. "Keitas unit was to badly damaged, they couldn't repair it in time, so they synchronised him with one of the other units.

"You be careful what you shoot at out there" said Misato.

"Well at least that's one less." said Asuka smiling. Rei scanned around some more, but couldn't make out any thing else. Misato reappeared on the screen, tactical information was being relayed.

"Here is the plan, you have two minutes to get into position, at that time we open channels to the other Evas and relay the images of the hostage rescue" said Misato business like. "Once I give Kaji the start signal there is no turning back."

"We're good to go" said Shinji confidently.

Misato, up in the plane, gave the signal to Gendo who immediately picked up a telephone.

Half a world away Kaji looked at Fuyuzuki and Makoto in the dark of the night, the stars were out and their features were illuminated by a light glow, Fuyuzuki was listening to his ear piece. He turned to Kaji and nodded, turning, Kaji gave a signal to Captain Moyo who nodded. Soon multiple dark figures began to make their way down the side of the hill.

The compound that the commandos were approaching was another isolated airfield. Surrounded by jungle there was only a small clearing between the jungles edge and the airfield itself, Now that the Evas and support staff had gone there was only a skeleton staff remaining, mostly consisting of guards to look after the families of the SEELE pilots. Not expecting action in the area, most of the guards were inside one of the barracks enjoying themselves, almost all the officers had left with the Evas. The barracks containing the guards was opposite the hangar containing the families, other then the control tower there were three other guard towers in the area, two of which where next to the hangar.

Back in Africa, the three Evas moved forward cautiously, unsure of the remaining enemy unit's position they covered each other while sprinting between positions. They had entered the canyon system to sneak up to a series of ridges from which they would attack from. Not meeting any resistance they moved up to the ridge.

In South America, things were proceeding nicely, quickly in position they awaited the final word. Fuyuzuki nodded, Moyo gave the command, springing from their hiding positions the commandos rushed the compound, going for the hanger holding the hostages. Two guards were brought down using silenced weapons, elsewhere the hangar guards were dealt with at close quarters having been snuck up on. The way cleared, Makoto and Kaji raced to the wall next to the door. Three commandos and Moyo did the same on the other side. Kneeling down Moyo pushed an optic fibre under the door, observing a small monitor to see the rooms contents. Using hand signals he communicated with his fighters who nodded. Suddenly however all hell broke loose as lights, gunfire and an alarm started up all at once. Kaji held up his hand to shield his eyes from the sudden light. Reacting quickly Moyo threw his weight onto the door, bursting it open and diving to his left. The sudden commotion had worked to their advantage, the three guards inside having been distracted. Only one got a shot off as they were dropped by the in rushing commandos. Still outside Kaji gave Makoto the ok. Switching on the transmitter, Makoto raced inside holding up his camera to film the cowering people inside.

Back in Africa, Shinji and Asuka were still sneaking forward, having left Rei on the ridge to snipe from a distance. Moving forward in silence Shinji and Asuka were surprised when a large window opened on their console, at its base it said, 'emergency comms channel level 55'. The screen flashed red, then a window appeared showing a very shaky picture. It took a while for the content to become clear but soon they could clearly see black clad commandos rushing towards a large group of cowering civilians in the middle of what appeared to be an aircraft hangar. Shocked the pilots stopped to watch the screen.

"Kaji!" said Asuka suddenly. It was true, there was Kaji, racing up to one of the captives, then the camera quickly looked at a dead guard lying on the ground. Then back up, suddenly gunfire could be heard and there was screaming. A large explosion rocked the camera and for a second they couldn't see anything.

"Oh my god." said Shinji. There was obviously a lot of things happening. The camera steadied again, he could see Kaji and Moyo herding the hostages out of a hole in the hanger wall. Makoto was obviously trying to get a picture of the hostages faces as they went past, it wasn't very effective in the commotion but some faces could be made out. Suddenly the signal went dead, replaced instead with the face of Misato,

"Your relatives are free now, they will be taken to safety, your friends are in the area, now is the time to decide!"

After that the screen went blank. Asuka and Shinji blinked, still dazed at the sudden images. Suddenly next to them a shot rang out. Rei had started the fight with a single, sudden shot, the loud clap could be heard all over the plain, shattering the silence which had existed only moments before. The shot raced towards its target. AT field up, the shot smacked into the hexagonal barrier. With the new progressive projectile technology the force was transferred through the field though the projectile itself was annihilated. Faltering, Kaworu was forced backwards. Leaning forward to remain upright, his Eva slid back over one hundred feet.

Before anyone could get used to this situation however all hell broke loose. Brought back to reality by the single shot the three SEELE pilots made their decision and quickly turned their rifles at their UM Eva companions. Emptying a full clip at close range the UM Evas were ripped apart, crippled they fell to the side. Shinji turned his head as a bright light appeared from the direction of the SEELE piloted unit they had seen in the distance. Suddenly the shock-wave hit them and his and Asuka's unit were violently thrown against the canyon wall. Given the soft sandy nature of the soil the heavens were suddenly filled with a thick blanket of brown dust.

"The S2 engines!" screamed Asuka above the general commotion.

"Quick! Keita is just over the next ridge!" screamed Shinji climbing up the ridge, dust and wind still being wiped around by the explosion some distance away.

Shinji cleared the ridge, visibility had been cut down too less then one kilometre and he started to run off into the smoke.

"Shinji!" yelled Asuka, she had slipped and was left behind, Shinji however had already disappeared into the dust.

While Shinji was running two small screens appeared in his cockpit, it was Keita and Musashi."

"Shinji, Asuka, help!" screamed Keita. He had been the slowest to react and his accompanying UM unit had destroyed his rifle before he could bring it to bare. Map information was coming in for Shinji as Musashi and Keita activated their live tactical link. As well as their own position, the last known position of the UM units was transferred, before the link to them had been severed by SEELE control. Musashi was positioned away to the west, his accompanying UM unit was already down. Shinji looked down at the screen. The remaining four units were split into two groups, one positioned north near Mana's position and the other two were in the canyon, near Asuka, they had been only around the next bend.

"Asuka look out!" screamed Shinji.

Asuka had cleared the ridge and was running, at hearing Shinji she looked behind her automatically. Just in time she dived to her right, still in full run, as the blade of an UM unit impacted heavily against the ground that she had just been running on. Rolling heavily she recovered into a kneeling position aiming up she could just make out the flying figure of an UM SEELE unit still correcting its flight from the heavy throw.

"They're airborne!" screamed Asuka, bringing her rifle up and firing at the figure. Tracers slashed through the smoke, the dark figure dipping gracefully to avoid the fire and disappearing off into the dust. Panting Asuka scanned the area looking for its return. Suddenly out of the corner of her eye she saw the emergence of a figure, coming in low and at high speed it was closing at an astounding rate. Swinging her gun around she pulled the trigger. The tracers flew out at in a graceful ark, the last rounds just impacting upon the creatures wings, but to late. Before she knew it the 2nd UM unit was upon her. Swinging its weapon it didn't connect correctly due to Asuka's defensive pose. Colliding heavily the two units ricochet, Asuka being thrown violently to the right, loosing her gun in the process, while the damaged UM unit span into the distance, out of control, and landing heavily. Screaming, Asuka slid to a halt.

Shinji meanwhile could only see Asuka's expression on his comm's screen, caught between two friendly units in need, he couldn't decide. Looking at the screen he could see that Keita was obviously wrestling with the enemy unit. He checked the map. It was level terrain between himself and Keita.

"Keita I want you to turn on all your Eva's lights!" yelled Shinji.

"You want me to do what!" screamed back Keita, obviously in distress.

"Turn them on then throw yourself to the ground away from the enemy unit!" Shinji screamed again. Keita gave him a desperate look, but Shinji was eyeing Rei who nodded then began to act. Convinced they had a plan Keita positioned his Eva, one foot back.

"Ready!" screamed Keita, he and the UM Eva were wrestling for control of the large double bladed weapon. With one massive scream, Keita lifted the blade above their heads, turning on his lights fully his Eva was suddenly illuminated in the dense yellow smoke. Bringing up his foot against the hip of the enemy unit he released his grip on the blade, kicking off he launched his Eva away from the reach of the UM unit. Landing heavily on his front he turned to look back, the enemy unit had held its ground from his kick-off and was even now closing on him to take a swing.

Meanwhile Shinji and Rei had seen multiple points of light appear through the dust as well as the covering movements of the attacking UM unit. As soon as the lights appeared to drop they raised their guns and fired.

Keita, yelling, raised his hands to the attacker, suddenly he could see flashes from two directions, followed by tracers coming in. Hitting the dirt, the air above him soon filled with projectiles. Though the shots were only guesses, both Shinji and Rei calculated well and fired a full clip each, only six rounds from Rei's rifle but still effective. Caught unaware the UM unit was hit by several rounds from Shinji and one from Rei. It stumbled from the impacts, though no hit was critical. After the barrage Keita got back up, finally able to draw his sword. Damaged the UM unit took a defensive position, however one of its arms was not functioning properly, and it could not hold up its weapon. The two units squared off for a second, seemingly coming to a decision the UM unit suddenly broke to its right disappearing into the smoke in the direction of Kaworu. Too relieved to give chase, Keita's Eva posture slackened as he exhaled in relief.

Shinji however was still stressed about Asuka, turning he started to run back to her. Suddenly Misato appeared on screen, the first time since combats started.

"Rei make your way to hill seven, re-affirm contact with Kaworu and pin him down. Keita, Musashi and Shinji get back and help Asuka now! after that close on Kaworu" ordered Misato, her comm's link closed just as quickly. Nodding Shinji continued to run back to Asuka, reloading his rifle as his Eva ran. Raising his rifle he unloaded a clip around the area he knew Asuka would be.

Meanwhile Keita was still standing there, behind him a figure suddenly emerged from the dust running at full pace, startled, he turned, raising his sword.

"Put that away you idiot, its me" came the voice of Musashi, he had been running from his position to cover the distance. As well as his rifle Musashi was now carrying the double edged sword from the slain UM unit that had accompanied him. Nodding, Keita turned and the two started to run towards Asuka.

Asuka meanwhile was not enjoying herself, getting up she looked over at the stricken UM unit. Soon however the downed enemy had ejected its damaged wings and was getting up. Turning she made to move towards her rifle, however just then the unarmed flying UM unit appeared again out of nowhere, landing heavily on her rifle, splitting it in two. Shocked she took a step backwards, righting herself she drew her progressive knife, taking an aggressive pose. Looking around she eyed the large double bladed weapon sticking out of the ground off in the distance. The recently landed UM unit not having retrieved it yet. Unfortunately it was closer to the winged UM then herself, and it was already starting to move around, keeping Asuka in sight. Looking down at her tactical map Asuka could see Shinji closing at a tremendous speed. He was less then a minute away, all she had to do was bide for time. As if to emphasise the point Shinjis wild fire raced in just above the heads of the three figures. The un-winged UM unit was between Shinji and Asuka, and deciding this was not a good place to be, it charged at Asuka, the other unit meanwhile raced towards its own weapon. Asuka saw the charge and prepared herself. The charging UM unit leaped into the air to cover the last one-hundred metres, bringing its weapon across in a wide arc Asuka had to back-flip to avoid it. Still closing the attacking unit made a wide slash which Asuka, using her prog knife, had to use every bit of her skill to avoid. She was however being pushed back towards the other UM unit. Well aware of this Asuka decided to commit. On the back foot she waited for a sweep. Diving left she thrust her dagger at the UM unit. Connecting, the blade cut into the enemies hand and the large blade it was holding. Twisting, the UM unit caused Asuka to lose grip on her knife. Grabbing the enemy unit's arm she threw herself in a wide arc above its head, swinging her legs around quickly she delivered a kick against the units back throwing it forward. Unable to land properly her Eva impacted heavily against the ground. The enemy unit stumbled forwards. Recovering, it spun around, the winged unit having come up to its side. Together they looked down at Asuka only one hundred metres away, raising their weapons they closed menacingly. Asuka, distraught, was scrambling away frantically, though unable to stand in her panic. Suddenly however the dust parted and the figure of unit 01 came racing into view. Rifle raised Shinji let off a long volley at the two UM units. Weapons raised, the two units used the large double blades in a combination with their AT fields to deflect the rounds. Impacting into the dirt all around them, the earth exploded, and a new, denser cloud of dirt and dust had formed. Asuka, relieved, finally got back up, backing away as Shinji emptied the rest of the clip into the dust cloud, somewhat clearing it, but the two enemy units had disappeared.

"Damn it!" said Asuka, now recovered. Looking at her map she noticed Rei had reached the top of a nearby hill.

"Can you see anything Rei." she asked impatiently. Rei meanwhile had reached the top. Relatively high above the dust and debree Rei could see quite far.

"I can only see Kaworu." she said. "He's still standing there." she added, quite calmly. He was looking over at Mana's position, Rei could make out some tracers in the distance.

"Mana is in trouble." she said simply. Shinji looked shocked, and began to move towards Mana's direction, though suddenly stopped. Shinji looked back at Asuka, Musashi and Keita had appeared out of the dust and came to a stop next to unit 02. Asuka looked at Shinji, the emotions evident on his face, both knew that this was against the plan, and he was quite obviously torn between his duty to his team-mates and his desire to go and help Mana. They only had five minutes left before the lance impacted. It was after all their real purpose here, Asuka, annoyed, let out a begrudged grunt.

"Well go you fool, we'll manage the five left here." she said, smiling.

Shinji, smiling in return, threw her his rifle and the ammunition belt, and started to turn. Musashi called out to him.

"Shinji!"

Turning back Shinji saw Musashi draw his progressive sword and throw it to him. Catching it with a smile, Shinji gave him a nod.

"Thanks Musashi" he said simply, then disappeared into the dust at a run.

Meanwhile above the dust Rei had gotten into firing position, she could now make out the four UM units closing towards Kaworu.

"You know what you have to do Rei" came the solemn voice of Misato. Rei, grimacing, concentrated on her target.

"Sorry Kaworu" she said softly. Focusing the crosshairs on the head of the black Eva she pulled the trigger. The gun fired, gauging the recoil, she corrected, following the first with another four quick bursts. The five shots raced off towards their targets. Closing in on Kaworu they seemed destined to hit, when suddenly Kaworus head turned, seeing the rounds coming in. The black Evas arm snapped upwards into position, extending out towards the shots. Fingers spread, an energy force seemed to punch the dark Eva back slightly as it braced for impact.

Flying in the first round impacted, a large Hexagonal field became visible. As expected it cracked slightly due to the impact, the next four rounds would punch through. True enough the second round impacted, though the desired effect did not occur, instead of punching through the field it simply changed colour. A blue hexagonal field appeared behind the first, mixing together the field turned green, and all the remaining shots disintegrated harmlessly against the new field.

Back in the command aircraft Misato and Ritsuko inhaled in shock.

"A blue AT field!" said Ritsuko, unbelieving.

"A human?" said Misato, also unbelieving. "What is going on?"

However just then the Black giant's hexagonal field disappeared, Kaworu's Eva's fist began to glow, slowly it opened its palm.

"Rei look out!" screamed Misato. Rei, still shocked herself, barely avoided the first blast, her rifle however disintegrated in the incoming energy wave. Off balance Rei launched herself down the side of the hill. Seconds later the second blast impacted, effectively vaporising the hilltop. Sliding down the hill Rei struggled to recover.

"Rei are you alright?" came Asuka's worried voice, as her Eva rushed towards the final resting place of the sliding unit 00. Arriving at her side Unit 02 helped unit 00 into a standing position, Musashi and Keita had followed Asuka and were keeping watch.

Rei was soon up, shaking her head to clear her mind.

Misato suddenly appeared back on the screen.

"Where the hell is Shinji going" she demanded

"He's going off to help Mana" replied Asuka evenly.

"He's doing what?" said Misato enraged, behind her Ritsuko gave an exasperated look.

"Don't worry she's fighting two of the things. And he's given me his rifle, we can handle the other five" Asuka said.

"Anyway one of them has not recovered fully from fighting Musashi" said Rei evenly. Musashi, who had been wondering about the numbers, suddenly said.

"Those things can regenerate?" he asked shocked. Keita looked around his Eva uneasily, he was suddenly quite unsure about piloting this unusual contraption.

"They have less armour but for that they can regenerate, unless you destroy their S2 engine" said Ritsuko.

"There is four minutes until impact" came the voice of Gendo. All turned towards him, or his screen. Rei now up, nodded determinedly.

"We're ready to go" she said, drawing her revolver. The other pilots nodded, getting up the four made their way towards Kaworu, moving through the dust. Musashi called out to Rei, turning her head Rei caught the double bladed weapon with her left hand, while still walking. Spinning the weapon around with her hand she was satisfied, nodding again to Musashi who gave her a nod back. The 4 Evas moved on through the dust. Walking, Asuka turned to Keita who was holding the sword in front of him.

"You any good with that thing?" she questioned, indicating the sword in Keitas hands. Keita looked at her, then sheepishly at the sword.

"No, not really" he admitted. "I was wondering why we were all issued with them actually." he said.

"He is however a crack shot with a rifle" came the voice of Musashi, his tone carrying a hidden request to Asuka. Walking she looked down at her rifle, smiling she looked over at Keita.

"You want to swap?" she asked with a curt smile.

"Really?" replied Keita, not hiding his enthusiasm. Asuka nodded, soon the two Evas exchanged weapons, all grinning, they emerged from the now settling dust.

Kaworu and three UM Evas could be seen about two kilometres ahead. Standing, ready for them.

"Stay together people, and deploy your AT fields." commanded Asuka. "Kaworu can't possibly blast through all four."

She deployed her AT field right in front of the advancing Evas. The other three pilots did the same.

With weapons calmly by their side they advanced on Kaworu and the unmanned units.

The scene was strait out of a western. The last showdown, the four large figures advanced calmly but relentlessly, the dust playing around in the wind, the midday sun gleaming of the armour of unit 00 and unit 02.

Five kilometres away Shinji Ikari heard a large energy blast from his left. Running at top speed he glanced over seeing two more bright flashes coming from Kaworus position. He honestly hoped they were all ok More tracer fire ahead of him brought him back to the task at hand. Racing forward even faster his Eva bounded recklessly over the uneven landscape.

"Mana! Can you hear me!…. Mana!" called out Shinji, still not receiving her signal. Suddenly a communications link opened on Shinji's screen. It crackled for a second, then a hazy image of Mana appeared on the screen, she looked stressed and a little roughed up, but as soon as she saw Shinji's face she broke into a big smile.

"Shinji!" she said enthusiastically, though suddenly her expression turned serious as she concentrated on firing on the approaching UM units. Tactical data was transferred to Shinji's Eva, he could see that Mana was in a canyon up ahead, she was holding off the two UM units but was being pushed back.

"Shinji I'm on my last clip!" came the worried voice of Mana. "Hurry up!" she said almost pleadingly.

Firing her last burst the gun fell silent. About five hundred metres away the two UM units calmly deflected the rounds, then raising there weapons, they started to close on Mana. Suddenly overcome with fear Mana threw the rifle at the enemy units, one of them calmly slicing it in two with one blow if its mighty weapon. Grinning menacingly they continued to close in, fumbling for her sword Mana held the weapon out in front of her. Regaining a bit of control she dug her back foot into the earth. Unaware of Shinji's ever increasing speed she resigned herself to her fate. She held the sword more confidently.

"Come on you bastards!" she yelled, adrenalin taking over. The world froze as out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of a figure sailing through the air.

Shinji had stayed at full speed, leaping from the edge of the canyon, he was sailing, feet first, into harms way. Shouting like a blood-crazed warrior, Shinji flew onto his target. It reacted late, Shinji's boot caught one of the assailants square in its side, transferring his momentum to the UM Eva it was thrown past its comrade, violently impacting on the crevasse wall.

Shinji landed well, which was lucky, as the second unit immediately brought its weapon to bare. Deflecting a series of blows Shinji counterattacked, forcing the UM unit on the back foot. Mana, still stunned by the sudden appearance of Shinji, recovered, charging forward herself. Fighting two Evas the UM unit was forced further back as it deflected blows from Shinji and Mana. They had forced it to the opposite canyon wall were it took its last step back. It had taken a slash from Mana during the engagement and one arm was relatively limp on the weapon, both pilots panted heavily preparing for the last attack.

"Shinji behind you!" screamed Mana. Shinji spun around just in time to catch the blow of the other recovered UM unit, Shinji was forced down on one knee, and strained to hold against the massive downward blow. The UM unit facing Mana decided to counter attack, she was in turn pushed back, Mana unsteadily deflecting the new attacks. Not really trained in the swords use she was no match, and soon received a massive gash on one of her legs.

"ARRRggggh!" she screamed out.

"Mana!" shouted Shinji. Enraged by the shout of pain from his fellow pilot, Shinji screamed as he forced back the strained attack of his opponent, forcing his Eva into a standing position. He looked over at Mana, she was on one knee unsteadily holding her ground. Looking back at his opponent Shinji completely released his grip on his sword while moving to one side. Unprepared for the sudden move the UM unit fell forward his blade impaction on the ground. Swinging around Shinji delivered a vicious kick to the creatures side, following with an elbow blow to the head, and a series of more kicks. The UM unit was still holding on to its weapon, unwilling to let go, it stumbled back un-coordinately. Shinji, still moving, deployed his progressive knife, grabbing it and sweeped his arm around in a graceful arc, delivering a deep slash to the creatures exposed mid section, stricken, the creature stumbled and fell backwards, the fall creating a cloud of dust.

Spinning back around Shinji threw the progressive knife at the other unit. It impacted just below the back of its neck and the creature stumbled towards Mana for a second, then fell. Shinji and Mana breathing deeply, simply looking on for a second. Smiling again Mana looked up at Shinji, though her expression turned to one of horror, instinctively Shinji jumped to the side. The massive double blade just missing him. Rolling sideways Shinji saw it was the UM unit he had just fought, oozing massively from the mid section it was lunging forward in an attempt to finish the now unarmed Shinji off. Turning it lunged again, Shinji just avoided the massive blow by rolling backwards.

"Shinji!" screamed Mana. Shinji turned his head. Mana, still kneeling, threw her sword roughly towards him. As if in slow motion Shinji caught the sword, turning his head he saw the enemy Eva lunging at him again, starting a massive overhead downward swing. In one action Shinji sprang forward from his crouching position, just missing the downward thrust of the massive blade as it slid centimetres past his shoulder. Bringing his own sword up in a vicious circle, the blade struck home, effectively severing the soft creature in two. Coming up, Eva unit 01 didn't even look back as the enemy UM unit collapsed into two heaps behind him. Before he could do anything else Shinji heard a yelp behind him. Turning he saw that the other stricken unit, progressive knife still sticking out of his back, was back on his feet and closing in on Mana. In desperation, Mana had reached for her own progressive knife. Shinji moved instantly but was still too slow. He watched as if in slow motion as the UM unit drew back its massive weapon. Spearing straight for the entry plug, it threw all of its force into the thrust.

Shinji screamed out. But the massive blade simply came down. Holding the progressive knife Mana was able to deflect the thrust slightly, the edge of the blade hit on her right chest plate up towards the shoulder, spearing strait through and pinning the Eva to the ground savagely. Shinji, racing from behind, brought the sword up in a massive ark, slicing the unmanned unit from its left hip to its right shoulder. Still as if in slow motion the world just froze, then the lumbering beast slowly separated, the two parts fell on top of the stricken Eva. Shinji, still in his final pose, regained his breath. Still on an adrenalin high he was unable to move for a couple of seconds, then suddenly the world came rushing back. Looking down he saw the collapsed form of the downed UM unit on-top of the stricken Eva. Dropping his sword Shinji threw off the parts of the downed unit and kneeled down next to Mana.

"Mana…… Mana are you ok?" asked Shinji frantically. Suddenly her comm's link reappeared, she was holding her shoulder with one arm, but otherwise she was smiling.

"Shinji" she said sweetly "we did it."

Her smile was broken however when she again grimaced at the pain. Shinji, looking up, saw the blade still sticking into the side of her.

"Turn your nerve connection off manually" commanded Shinji. "Your not going to need it any more"

Mana looked up at him.

"If I do that I probably wont be able to reconnect" said Mana, concerned.

"You can't help any more" said Shinji, looking down at her. "You've done a great job, we'll take it from here" he said sweetly. Mana, smiling again, looked up at him.

"Are Musashi and Keita ok?" she asked softly.

"They're fine, they're with Asuka and Rei" he said softly. Off in the distance there was another explosion, only audible now that their own combat was finally over.

"You had better go help them." Mana said with a look of concern. Shinji could see that she had disconnected the neural link as the lights in her entry plug suddenly changed colour. She removed her hand from her shoulder.

"O.K" he said. Getting up, he went over to retrieve his progressive knife.

"I'll just finish off these two first" he said, starting to rip apart the torso of the first UM unit.

"Aren't they dead?" said Mana with concern.

"They regenerate, you have to destroy the S2 engine inside to kill them. That's what you did to the first one … that's why it exploded" he said. He had found the S2 engine, a small globe of green. Getting up, he moved over to the next one.

"Oh, so that's what that was" said Mana simply. Shinji quickly found the second one and moved back over to Mana.

"Yep, may I take your progressive knife" he asked looking down with a smile.

"Sure" said Mana curious about his next actions. Shinji, holding the two globes in one hand, garbed the knife. Moving up to the ridge he threw the globes, one after the other out onto the plain. They landed a considerable distance away. Getting a firmer stance Shinji grabbed the knife by the blade, ready to throw, he activated his computer to calculate the throw.

"Get ready." he said turning back to Mana. She nodded. Pausing for a second Shinji threw the knife. Diving back down he just avoided the blast as it rushed over above him. He and Mana cowered as the earth shook, the crater almost reached the canyon, but the ground held, and neither unit was injured by the massive expulsion of energy. The explosion seemed to go for ages, but finally the rumbling abated.

Wind and dust still blowing viciously, Shinji got up from his huddled position and brushed of some of the debry and dirt. Moving down to Mana's position he dragged the un-mobile unit up and out of the light layer of newly settled dirt, propping it up against the canyon wall so that its entry plug could eject if need be. Mana's comms link reappeared on Shinji's screen.

"You going to be alright?" asked Shinji with a small smile.

"I'll be fine, you just take care of yourself ok" she said softly.

Smiling, Shinji nodded, then turned to run up the other side of the canyon. Picking up his sword he climbed up, looking down at Mana's screen one-more time, seeing her smiling face, he gave her one last nod before moving out. Their comm's link failed soon after he lost line of site.

Shinji, now running, focused on the terrain in front of him, once again obscured by the new dust thrown up by the S2 engine explosion. Shinji raced towards the far off combat, looking down at his timer he noted he only had twelve minutes left in his batteries and the lance would be landing in two minutes. Urgency noted, Eva unit 01 raced on through the smoke.

Back at ground zero Asuka was panting heavily, her shoulder was injured again, looking around she saw the slain figures of the four UM units as well as the fallen figures of Musashi and Keitas' units. Only her and Rei remained standing, Rei had multiple cuts but was still fully functioning, but she had just been thrown back by Kaworu, and was on the ground. Asuka's own unit 02 had only had slight damage to its left arm, it was at 60 strength. Launching herself sideways she avoided another blow from Kaworu.

"Ha Ha Ha." laughed Kaworu over the now established comm's link "You fight well Lilin, your passion for your futile cause is quite amicable" he said, swiping again at Asuka, she caught the blade with her own, pushing back hard against him. Straining, the two squared of, moving suddenly Kaworu put Asuka off balance and delivered a kick that pushed her out and away, landing badly her unit slid to a halt. Kaworu laughed again. He started to move towards Asuka, suddenly he spun around to deflect a blow from Rei, who had recovered. Asuka, leaning up, looked at the two, standing there, exchanging blows.

'What the hell happened here?' She thought to her self… she remembered back to the start of the fight.

Moments earlier the four NERV units had approached the three UM units and Kaworu. As expected Kaworu had fired some shots at them. Though between the four AT fields they had easily absorbed the impact. Even if some shots had pushed them back due to the blast. Kaworu stopped firing after a number of tries, joining his other units, they had simply stood and waited. Keita and Musashi waited until they were about one thousand metres away before opening fire. Two of the front UM units started to deflect the rounds. Then something strange happened, the last winged unit suddenly sprang into the air, firing its boosters it was quickly at altitude, caught unaware by this action the four simply got into defensive poses, getting ready to dodge whatever attack would come. Kaworu began to spin the large staff he was carrying, starting slowly, the four pilots watched mesmerised as it got ever faster. Suddenly stopping Kaworu thrust the staff into the air, one of the balls detaching and flew up quickly to the waiting UM unit high above. The globe glided up, a small wire trailing behind it, before the pilots knew it the globe was caught by the unit high above, and the wire went taught, glistening in the midday sun.

"Shoot the wire out!" screamed Asuka. Keita brought up his rifle, but it was to late. The four pilots shielded their eyes as a bright light escaped from Kaworu, who stood arms spread wide. They strained against the shock-wave as the earth was ripped from around them. Controls scrambled, it took a second or two for the comm's links to come back on line. Looking around Asuka was amazed she was still alive. Blinking she laughed triumphantly.

"Is that all!" she yelled "How pathetic! Keita, shoot out that line!"

Taking aim again Keita pulled the trigger, however all that happened was that his rifle went

"click"

Musashi and Rei both raised their guns and fired, both clicking harmlessly. Shocked the pilots looked at their weapons. Then suddenly a comm's screen showed up on their window, it was Kaworu.

"I'm afraid chemically propelled weapons are no longer of use" he said with a smile.

"You have fought bravely, but your time has come, traitors of SEELE." he looked at Musashi and Keita who were backing away uncertainly.

"And children of Lilin!" he continued. With that Kaworu drew his own sword and the three units rushed forward, high above the flying UM unit began to dive. What followed was a difficult and bloody close combat struggle. Blades clashed, knives were thrown kicks, punches and throws were delivered and deflected. Though Asuka was far superior to the UM units the two boys were poorly armed. Taking massive hits while helping Asuka, Keita sacrificed his Eva to protect Musashi from a terminal blow about to be delivered by the forgotten forth UM unit, which had finally recovered from its earlier ambush by Musashi. Enraged by the fall of his comrade Musashi fought through a piercing hit to disembowel an attacker grabbing the S2 engine from the lifeless corps. Seeing his fallen comrade and systems failing he had sprinted towards another lightly damaged enemy, taking another massive blow to his torso on the way. Despite the pain he had managed to effectively tackle the unit and was running with it away from his fallen comrade. Satisfied that he had made enough distance from his friend and about to receive a crippling blow from the tackled UM unit he plunged his progressive knife into the S2 engine. This act igniting it and the S2 engine of the unit he was holding on to. The explosion had been massive, Musashis Eva had barely held up to the blast and both of the boys' units had been damaged beyond continued operation.

Asuka meanwhile, now on her own, had taken the other damaged two UM units on, using her weapon skilfully it took her only forty-five seconds of glorious combat to successfully disassemble the enemy, picking up the two S2 engines she simply threw them away from the bodies. Rei finally, had engaged Kaworu. Not much of a match against this larger enemy, through sheer determinations she had held her ground valiantly while the others disposed of the last mass produced Evas.

And that's when Asuka had joined the fight against Kaworu.

Her thoughts coming back to the present time Asuka's Eva got back up. Preparing to help Rei once more Asuka was suddenly distracted by a red light appearing in her cockpit. Ten minutes battery remaining. Suddenly Misato came on screen.

"The lance is incoming! Lookout!" she screamed. Kaworu and Rei disengaged from each other, both looking up. High above them they could see a distortion in the sky, the lance was streaking in, accelerating under the pull of gravity. On-board computers gave warning of the impact and the three remaining units dove away at the last second. The impact was impressive, though not as violent as an N2 detonation. As the area was now relatively devoid of dust the last remaining fragments of loose soil were blown clear by the new shock-wave. Standing again, Asuka looked over at the impact crater. The lance had buried itself in the bedrock, looking up she could already see Kaworu standing at the edge of the large shallow crater. Raising his hand he fired a burst of energy at the craters centre. The large explosion throwing massive boulders into the air. Asuka shielded herself from the debris, hunched down. Getting back up again, Asuka was about five hundred metres away, just behind Kaworu, she could see Rei standing up, weapon still in hand. All comm's links re-engaged. Asuka could again see Kaworu and Rei.

"It's not over yet Kaworu! You still have to get past me and Rei!" yelled Asuka bitterly, raising her sword and charging at the dark Eva. Rei, from behind Kaworu, did the same. Calmly as always Kaworu looked from one girl too the other.

"If that is your wish." he said simply, still smiling.

What followed was a brilliant display of fighting skills, enhanced by the frenzied adrenalin rush of the two girls and the clam determination of Kaworu. Asuka and Rei slashed and thrusted, Kaworu deflected, dove and kicked. Moving gracefully to defend himself against the two girls, he occasionally brought one of them to the ground. The two girls were however, relentless, quite aware of their battery times now down to six minutes. After a particularly elaborate exchange Rei was momentarily wrong footed and Kaworu was able to knock up Asuka's hands with his elbow, exposing her mid section. Brining back his sword he pierced unit 02 right in the stomach, the blade going clean through the bottom of the entry plug. Frozen Asuka's Unit 02 stood there for a second, not moving an inch, a shocked expression on the pilots face. Rei let out a scream of shock.

"Asuka!" she yelled out, Eva unit 02 however was beyond help. Dropping her blade Asuka took a step back, her legs failing beneath her. She collapsed, her un-reactive Eva sliding down the side of the crater.

"You bastard!" screamed Rei, making a lunge at Kaworu.

Only worried about one assailant Kaworu delt quickly with the attack, sidestepping the thrust and delivering a cut along the back of unit 00. Shocked Rei stumbled forward, her Eva coming to a slow stop. Standing there for a second, unit 00 dropped its weapon onto the ground, it coming to rest unceremoniously on the bare rock. Unit 00 swayed for a second before collapsing forward into the dirt.

Kaworu, still kneeling in his last pose, calmly stood back up, sheathing his sword slowly, he looked around. All around him were fallen Evas and their discarded weapons. Given the cleanliness of the now exposed bedrock, the debris looked almost clinical, the metal and organic matter shining and steaming in the hot afternoon sun. Casually Kaworu walked over to the edge of the crater. Looking down he could see the end of the lance sticking up.

About to move Kaworu's eye caught a figure standing opposite him on the other side of the crater. It was unit 01.

Shinji's comm's link flicked on in Kaworu's Eva.

"Kaworu, what have you done!" asked Shinji, exasperated, all around he could see the fallen Evas of his friends.

"Merely what had to be done" said Kaworu calmly. "The will of the Lilin is strong, though your decisions are never unanimous, it is the stronger amongst you that forge a path for the masses"

Shinji eyed his opponent warily. He had heard this type of talk before, looking down at his consol he had only three minutes of power left. Looking around it was clear that no one remained capable to help destroy the lance, there was only one alternative, Kaworu had to be destroyed. Tears welling up in his eyes, Shinji made up his mind.

"Come on you bastard this ends here! Once and for all!" screamed Shinji, preparing his sword and racing down the crater side. Kaworu, standing calmly on the far side simply said.

"If that is you wish" calmly and curtly. Drawing his own sword, Kaworu also started to run down his side of the crater. Meeting roughly in the middle the two Evas leapt the last one hundred metres towards each other, the swords clashing violently. Landing roughly Shinji spun around and soon the two were in a close combat exchange. Swords clashing heavily, they caught each other in alternative sweeps, the blades coming to rest against each other as both sides used brute strength to try to push the other away. Thinking quick Shinji deployed his progressive knife. Using his left hand he snatched the hilt sending it towards the head of the dark Eva. Kaworu however, was ready, catching Shinji's Eva's wrist with his own hand. Now locked in two grips, the two pilots struggled against each other, for the first time Shinji saw Kaworu really strain himself, as Eva unit 01 started to apply all its hidden power to accomplish its pilots desire. Countdown continuing, Shinji's cockpit turned red as the final 180 seconds of his power began to run down.

Unaware to Shinji, Rei had ejected from the entry plug and had made her way to the edge of the crater. Looking down she saw the two units strain against each other, locked in the final struggle.

"Damn it Kaworu if only there was more time!" screamed Shinji, as he prepared for his final effort.

"More time" said Kaworu breaking his mask of concentration. Now calm, Kaworu looked up at Rei, standing there normally, as if nothing in the world were the matter. She seemed relaxed, looking back at Kaworu, Rei's form began to glow. Smiling Kaworu looked back at Shinji .

"Time is relative" he said simply.

Shinji's world went black. Blinking once or twice in the new environment, he was completely disorientated. Then in front of him he saw a single drop of liquid hit an invisible sea, the ripples extending out rhythmically.

"Hu?" he said aloud.

Changing to a more relaxed pose, Shinji blinked a bit more.

Finally looking to his left he saw the white naked figure of Rei, standing alone, a way off, seemingly standing on nothing at all. She calmly began to walk over to Shinji. Shinji didn't react, simply turning his head back. And there, standing right in front of him, was the figure of Kaworu. Shinji jumped back a bit, the sudden appearance of the naked boy so close to him giving him a start.

"Nagisa!" said Shinji surprised. Smiling, Kaworu tilted his head.

"You know my second name?" he said pleasantly. Shinji still a little disorientated, calmed a bit.

"Yes of course I do Kaworu, we've met before" said Shinji.

"Ahh yes" said Kaworu in his usual casual tone. "In my last life. I was told we had fought."

His face, as always, gave nothing away other then pleasantness. Shinji wondered what else he had been 'told'.

"Kaworu, where is this, why are we here." he said more businesslike, remembering the mission. Kaworu looked across at Rei.

"This is simply a different plane of consciousness" he said. "One not so effected by the restraints of time"

Kaworu bowed slightly as Rei got closer, Rei in return simply looked at him.

"I was simply curious why a Lilith and one half born of Lilin would have the same request" he said finally. Rei had moved next to Shinji and had looped one arm around his.

"And what request would that be" said Rei calmly.

"To find an alternative to combat, of course." he said smiling, and with that he sat on the invisible floor, legs crossed in front of him. Shinji looked over at Rei then back at Kaworu.

"Of course we don't want to fight, I don't want to hurt you" said Shinji again, he and Rei joined Kaworu on the floor.

"You have destroyed me before" said Kaworu, still not hinting at any malice at all.

"That was at your request!" said Shinji defensively, almost getting back up again.

Kaworu simply observed Shinji for a second, facial expression not changing from one of contentment.

"It is true, you sacrificed yourself so that Shinji alone would decide the fate of mankind" said Rei calmly. She was still holding onto Shinji.

Kaworu looked from one to the other.

"Under what circumstances?" he said pleasantly.

"You were in unit 01s grasp directly in front of Lilith. Your and my AT field encased all these elements as well as having contact with Adam" said Rei. The three looked at each other for a while longer.

"Yet here I am again." said Kaworu after a while. "Once more trying for the instrumentality of mankind"

Kaworu calmly raised his hand, making one sweep from left to right. All around him Shinji saw the appearance of figures. He could see Musashi, Keita and Asuka, as well as a woman next to Asuka, looking to his left he could see his mother.

"Mother?" he said surprised. He looked at her for a while, she was floating, eyes closed in a standing position, her hair playing in an invisible wind, head back but otherwise limp. He looked at her for a second then back around, in the distance he could make a faint dot of light.

"Mana" he said softly to himself. Looking closer he could see other figures as well. Next to Keita and Musashi were other figures, they were Kaworu. Looking back to where Rei had come from he could see another Rei, this one floating just like his mother.

"The souls of Evangelion" said Shinji, obviously amazed at what he was seeing.

"Not all of them" said Rei, keeping a fixed stare on Kaworu. "Some of them are the shadows of souls" she said coldly, looking back at the shadowy Rei, Shinji noticed that it was relatively transparent, no where near as brilliant as the sleeping form of Asuka or the floating form of who he assumed to be Asuka's mother.

"All that you see around you" said Kaworu, looking around "All this has been created by Lilin, by your own kind… Rei, I myself, and even your own Eva, have been created for one purpose" he looked at Shinji "Human instrumentality."

Kaworu smiled for a second. "And now, you would use the same tools to stop that, for which they were designed for?"

"It was a mistake" said Shinji, a little desperately, he was starting to get the impression that he was on trial.

"One would not think that a mistake could exist over such a long period of time, consume so many resources, effect so many people, and not be recognised as such." said Kaworu.

"This mistake was perpetuated by one organisation, by only a small group of people, they don't represent the desires of mankind!" said Shinji desperately.

"Yet mankind did nothing to stop this" said Kaworu evenly. "New ideas and interpretations must always come from an individual, or a small group. But it is society's choice whether to follow or not."

"Mankind was never given a choice in this!" replied Shinji angrily. Kaworu looked at Shinji for a second as if reading his mind, then calmly as always said.

"Inactivity is a choice, everyone's choice" Kaworu said. Shinji, stunned, remembered back to his fight with Toji's Eva, his inactivity had been his choice, choosing not to act did not absolve a person of responsibility.

As if reading Shinji's mind Kaworu continued "And just as what can effect an individuals choice, is the individuals responsibility, so is what can effect a society, society's responsibility."

Shinji listening to this, strained a little mentally to follow.

"Mankind has allowed for this circumstance to occur, through its own making. The collective choices of all Lilin have culminated in the control over its fate by a small organisation, and now by a small group of individuals." he said looking from Rei to Shinji

"That should never be the case" said Shinji, steadfast.

"Perhaps not, but it is." replied Kaworu. "It has already occurred once before." he said looking at Shinji.

"That time you allowed Shinji to decide for all mankind" said Rei calmly.

"It would appear so" replied Kaworu.

"Why then would you go against his wishes now?" continued Rei.

"An individuals choices are dependent on circumstance, the effect of that choice is also dependent on circumstance" said Kaworu, and looking at Rei, he added. "And the individual."

Rei looked at him for a second.

"The last time your choice was Shinji" said Rei.

"I am also tied to the bonds of circumstance, my decisions are reached by the environment I find myself in, and by past events that I have experienced, just as you have." he said pleasantly. Rei's eyes opened a little as she contemplated her own mind set, would she have simply followed orders? Even just after her 3rd reincarnation? Realisation came hard, she would have still simply followed orders, regardless of her experience in the past life, she could remember nothing, doing the will of Gendo was her only purpose, doing the will of Lilin. It had only changed after her interaction with Shinji. Rei looked over at Shinji who, by his expression, was obviously contemplating things. It had been his choice to interact with her on a personal level, he had been the first. And through this she had begun to value the choices of others, of people other then Gendo, the commander. Looking back at Kaworu she gave him a small knowing smile, he simply smiled back as always, she then turned to Shinji, saying.

"Choices are dependant on circumstance, dependent on experiences, dependent on the individual" she said softly. "You will make the right choice."

Shinji, looking a little confused, looked at her. Looking back at Kaworu the images began to fade, "Kaworu! Rei! Wait!" yelled Shinji. It was too late, the images were gone, suddenly however he could see a light, waiting for their return he was somewhat shocked to find himself back in his Eva, Kaworu right in front of him, they were both straining in their struggle to kill each other. Looking at his screen he had three minutes left.

"I will not let this happen!" he screamed. Allowing Kaworu's weight to push him backwards, Shinji twisted the body of his Eva, guiding Kaworu past him. Spinning around 360 degrees his hands were able to break Kaworus grip and he swung around fully with the blade sweeping around in a graceful ark behind him, quick to react Kaworu was ready, having turned around to deflect. Shinji pressed the attack, dropping the progressive knife he swept up in a low ark knocking Kaworu's blade vertical. Still using the same sweep Shinji curved the blade back down and around 270 degrees to deliver a powerful double handed horizontal slash to the side of Kaworus now vertical blade, cutting it in two just above the hilt. Not finished, Shinji continued to spin around with his momentum delivering a kick to Kaworus mid-section, causing him to fall backwards and slide a way on the ground. Standing back erect, Shinji calmly walked over to Kaworu's Eva. Kaworu, unfazed and still lying on the ground, simply leaned up on the dark Eva's elbows. Shinji, sword still in hand, pointed it loosely at Kaworu's middle.

"So what is your choice, Lilin?" said Kaworu in his usual cool manner, unknown to Shinji his palm had begun to glow. Shinji looking down at him, still panting, waited a few seconds, battery down to two minutes.

"I will not destroy you" said Shinji determinedly, in-between heavy pants, the adrenaline still cursing through his veins.

"You will help me destroy the lance" he finished. Kaworu, still smiling, said.

"And if I do not?"

"I would rather postpone the destruction of the lance, and the ending of the threat of instrumentality, and even risk the possibility of SEELE still gaining future control of the lance, then destroy your existence again. If you do not help me, I will simply throw the lance back into orbit." he said, serious in every way.

With that Eva unit 01 walked over to the lance, pulling it up from the ground with its free hand. Kaworu in the meantime had gotten back up, and walked slowly towards Shinji.

"You have decided for more time, but in such a way that you are once more risk the possible future abortion of mankind. And all this to allow for your Lilin compassion, and this for a creatures life that is not even human, and one that many would consider your enemy." said Kaworu calmly.

"You are truly a species born of hope, yours is not the future that should die" he said evenly. Shinji smiled, thinking back to similar words Kaworu had said during their first fight. Noting that he had only about one minute left Shinji threw the sword he was still holding to Kaworu, who caught it casually, as if expecting it. Spreading his feet apart Shinji held out the lance in front of him, Kaworu only meters away. Shinji screamed out.

"AT field maximum!" The hexagonal field appeared suddenly, accompanied by the usual rush of wind and bright lights. Twisting and turning the field began to distort around the lance, until the lance changed color from red to purple. Walking up, and without another word Kaworu raised the sword and brought it down hard, connecting with the centre of the lance. Shinji, looking down, closed his eyes, it didn't help, the flash of light went straight through him.

From orbit you could see the cross, standing thousands of kilometres out of the atmosphere, glowing like a galactic beacon, almost half the globe could see the massive column of light towering above the horizon, hands of the cross stretching across almost half the diameter of the earth.

Back on earth Shinji was yelling, the light and sound overloading his senses, his hands burning with unfeeling energy, it lasted almost a full thirty seconds. Finally loosing breath to yell Shinji calmed as the light slowly faded. Expecting to find himself back in his Eva the fading light revealed something totally unexpected, the open air. Shinji blinked. The light was still very bright, but now he could clearly make out his surroundings. Looking around he could see bright traces of light, they were floating upwards, thousands of them, as far as the eye could see, great beacons of light slowly floating upwards into the heavens. Against the still dusty backdrop the scene was quite simply beautiful. Smiling, Shinji couldn't help but admire the view. Looking forward he saw Kaworu, arms stretched, floating twenty metres or so above the ground. Looking back around he could see nothing of unit 01, or for that matter any trace of any Eva. Looking around he saw Asuka a way off, looking closer he could see that she was talking to a figure, one standing just in-front of her, floating one metre above the ground. Asuka, as if feeling his gaze upon her, turned to look at him. She gave him one of the most heart-warming smiles he had ever seen her give, turning back, she started to talk to her mother again.

'Mother' Shinji suddenly thought to himself. Spinning back around he was not shocked to find the naked, floating figure of his mother.

"Mother!" Shinji said overjoyed, but unable to move.

"Hello my little Shinji" said Yui tenderly. Tears were present in her eyes, Shinji's eyes were also beginning to well up.

"I am so proud of you" Yui said. Shinji, still struck dumb with joy, simply continued to grin.

"You were able to undo what I had started." she said, still smiling.

"Mother, no. Its not your fault" said Shinji in a caring tone. Yui just looked at him, smiling.

"No Shinji, I and your father were simply wrong, we should not have looked to science to bring man closer to god, we were seduced by SEELE, blinded by our arrogance." she continued.

"But you did not know that" said Shinji, still concerned.

"You are right" said Yui sweetly. "Yet we continued anyway"

"Knowledge without wisdom is a dangerous thing." she added.

"And it took someone, so young." Yui reached out with her hand touching Shinji's face lightly "to see the basic wisdom, we, with our knowledge and arrogance had forgotten"

Shinji lifted his own hand, placing it on his mothers.

"I'm not sure I understand" said Shinji smiling again. Yui chuckled lightly to herself, bringing up her other hand she held Shinji's face in her hands.

"That's ok" she said lightly. "Just remember, no matter how old you get, no matter how complicated the world gets, and how much you change, simply be human."

She lowered herself to kiss Shinji tenderly on the forehead and floated down a little, taking Shinji into a tender embrace. They stayed like that for a while, simply enjoying the moment. Shinji released his mother, he looking at her fondly for a second.

"Thank you Shinji" Yui said simply. Beginning to float up slowly.

Shinji, completely at a loss, as to what to say, simply said.

"I love you"

Looking up at her he added "And thank you."

He continued to smile.

"I will always love you Shinji. Remember I will always be there for you" Yui said smiling. And with that final smile she slowly vanished. Shinji, blinking, continued to smile for a while and then slowly looking back around, he noticed that Asuka was hugging her mother, she did not appear to be going anywhere. Shinji smiled to himself, he knew where his mother had gone. Turning around he saw Musashi and Keita on the ridge, they had made their way over from their final positions, both looking up into the sky, amazed. Rei was already halfway down the Ridge. Shinji gave her a smile, which she returned. Turning back Shinji took a couple of steps towards Kaworu who was slowly floating back to the ground. He landed, lowering his arms and opening his eyes, he smiled at Shinji. Shinji walked over to him.

"You have done all this?" Shinji said, smiling.

"You still do not see the truth?" said Kaworu with a smile. Shinji gave him a puzzled look.

"I have done nothing but the will of Lilin" he said "I could not do otherwise, the choice has always been, and will always be, yours"

Shinji was still confused. But remembered back to their earlier discussion on society.

"And just as what can effect an individual's choice is the individual's responsibility, so is what can effect a society, society's responsibility." Kaworu had said.

"I am also tied to the bonds of circumstance, my decisions are reached by the environment I find my self in, and by past events that I have experienced, just as you have." he had said.

Shinji thought about the comment. How close had mankind come to its own annihilation? Would it ever know? Would it ever learn? Shinji smiled, humanity has no choice but to continue, to keep trying.

"How powerful are you Kaworu?" asked Shinji. Kaworu simply looked at him, as if waiting for him to continue. Shinji recognising a bit of Rei in his manner so he continued.

"Can you cause third impact on your own?" Shinji looked back around, admiring the view.

"You know the answer to that question" Kaworu said with a smile. Turning a little he faced Rei who had walked up to the two standing boys, she was still in her plug suite.

"Hello pilot Ayanami" said Kaworu pleasantly. Rei smiling, looked at him, stopping she tilted her head a little as if contemplating.

"You intend to stay amongst us, do you not" she said. Shinji, surprised by her action, looked at her a little bemused.

"Yes, that was my intention" he said still smiling.

"Then as a new friend, I think you should call me Rei" she said with a smile. Kaworu responded with a slightly bigger smile then usual. The upwards travelling lights started to fade a little, and the number of lights emerging from the ground began to slow, hearing a voice Shinji turned around, Asuka was running down the side of the crater, shouting out.

"Hey Shinji!" Asuka yelled, running fast.

"Shinji, Rei! We did it! We won! Its over!" she yelled, still running towards the small group. Shinji hadn't even thought about it, but the idea slowly began to sink in. This was it, it really was over, only now had it struck him.

"Its over" he said smiling, allowing the emotions to take over he got a little more enthused.

"We did it!" he said, excitement growing. He looked over at Rei as if seeing her for the first time.

"Its actually over!" he said to her. Smiling broadly Rei replied.

"And we all made it through."

Shinji moved over, giving her a huge hug and spinning her around on the spot, Rei returned the hug and the two laughed. Shinji had barely released her when Asuka finally closed the distance, jumping at Shinji to exchanging another big hug. That accomplished, she moved onto Rei, joy overtaking the two human pilots. Behind them Keita and Musashi had run up to join them, caught in the moment the young pilots exchanged handshakes, hugs and slaps on the back as they allowed themselves a celebration. Musashi, Asuka and Keita however were slightly taken aback by the fact that Kaworu was naked, but without any other form of clothing there was little any of them could do about it.

"Is Mana ok" asked Musashi to Shinji, while they were congratulating each other.

"Yep, she's fine" replied Shinji with a grin. "We should make our way over"

Agreeing the small party headed off.

It was an unlikely scene, the small group of pilots walking through the barren landscape, chatting happily amongst themselves, seemingly oblivious of their harsh surroundings.

Soon a helicopter appeared on the horizon, from the direction they were walking to. It quickly closed the distance, landing just ahead of them. It was a large transport helicopter, and coming running from the back appeared Mana Kirashima. Both Musashi and Shinji began to run towards her, though noting Shinji's sudden movement Musashi slowed slightly. Shinji caught Mana in a massive hug, the two pilots laughing in relief and happiness. They detached from each other as the group approached, Mana hugging her team-mates and congratulating the other pilots. A crewmember emerged to give Kaworu a blanket. And soon all the pilots were on their way. The seven had plenty to talk about, and the two hour flight was soon over. Shinji truly enjoying the company of so many people. The celebrations and congratulations started all over again upon meeting up with the rest of the NERV command. Everyone was in a great mood, Ritsuko let the scientist in her take over slightly, asking Kaworu plenty of questions. Misato was unstoppable, hugging everyone, including the former SEELE pilots and Kaworu, Shinji laughed as he finally saw Kaworu shocked, Misato having planted a kiss on his cheek. Shinji and his father congratulated each other with a handshake, Gendo even giving him a pat on the shoulder. The two only had a little time to themselves but Shinji only had to say one thing.

"It was good to see her one more time?" he said, while looking out at the jubilant gathering, not even looking at his father, who was standing next to him.

"It was something I will never forget" replied his father, smiling a little to himself, removing his glasses.

Authors notes:

Ka-boom! I'm really glad with how that worked out, gun-fighting and swordplay working together nicely. I'm also quite proud of that introspective stuff with Kaworu and Shinji, nice and trippy, just like the series, hope that made everyone think a bit… ok onto the epilogue.

**3.2 So what now? EPILOGUE**

It's the end, time to round out the happily ever after stuff, I nice bit of contemplation and my views on how each character would continue with their lives.

The days following the final battle seemed to be one continual celebration for the pilots, the mood could simply not be broken as the former SEELE pilots were reunited with there families at NERV headquarters. As well as this the return of Kaji, Fuyuzuki, Moyo and Makoto prompted a new round of celebrations. Even though Shinji was caught up in events he did notice that the commanders were still active in their role, SEELE was still out there after all, their demise had to be finalised.

Only a month later the final nail was hit into SEELES coffin, now completely exposed by their desperate role of the dice, the heads of SEELE and the leaders of its tentacle organisation were placed under arrest, while the quicker members distanced themselves from the organisation. SEELE was no-more, and with its demise, there ceased to be a need for NERV.

The alarm sounded. Shinji, lying peacefully in his bed, stirred from his sleep. Physically curling up in protest, he tried to will the alarms noise out of his head. Finally giving up he stretched out, eventually forcing his eyes to open. Blinking a couple of times, he yawned animatedly, stretching out again, his feet sticking over the edge of the bed. Leaning up on his elbows Shinji looked around the room. A muffled moan came from under the sheets next to him. Smiling, he leaned over and stopped the alarm. The movement from the lump on his bed stopped. Grinning evilly Shinji moved over, grasping the doona with one hand he pulled it off the sleeping girl in one swift move. Annoyed, the satin slip wearing figure of a 19-year-old woman curled up into a ball, mumbling unhappily. This situation was not surprising however considering he himself was now 19. Leaning over Shinji tenderly swept her hair away from her hiding face, placing a kiss on her cheek. He left his head were it was, kissing the cheek periodically while he lent on her shoulder, awaiting a reaction. Moving slowly the young lady uncurled. Leaning back Shinji threw the doona back over her to cover her exposed figure. Still leaning Shinji waited for the young woman to fully stretch. Sweeping her hair out of her face, and rubbing her eyes, she opened them reluctantly, smiling upon seeing Shinji's face.

"Hello beautiful" Shinji said sweetly. The young lady reached up, placing her hand behind his neck she pulling him down slowly and proceeded to give him a tender morning kiss. Shinji wrapped his arms around her. 'What a great way to start the day' he thought. After a while the young lady pushed Shinji up lightly.

"We should really get ready, we don't want to be late" she said. Smiling Shinji released his grip. Giving her a quick kiss, he rolled out of bed. Standing up, he stretched as far as he could reach, letting out a satisfied groan. Meanwhile the young lady leant up against the bed-rest to watch the young man, clad only in boxer shorts stretch.

Turning his head he said "Well then, come on Mana", giving her a wink.

Shinji leant forward over the sink, using his hand to wipe away some of the steam that had collected on the mirror. Leaning back he observed his reflection, behind him he could see Mana's form in the shower, she was humming a little song to herself.

"Now don't use all the hot water!" said Shinji in a light hearted tone. Mana stoped humming for a second. Sliding back the shower screen a little, she poked her head out, smiling mischievously.

"You could always join me?" she suggested.

Shinji smiled at her.

"Unfortunately we don't have the time, we can't keep our international visitors waiting" he said with a smirk.

Mana put on a disappointed look, closing the screen door she started humming happily to herself again. Shinji looked at himself in the mirror, rubbing his chin with his hands thoughtfully.

'I need a shave' he thought to himself. He prepared himself, Mana spoke out from the shower.

"Speaking of a person who need a shave" she said in an exaggerated innocent tone. "Did Kaji, or Misato end up calling you?"

Shinji thought for a second.

"I forgot to tell you, Misato called last night" Shinji answered, lathering up his face. "They've already started moving in, she says there will be plenty of room for us when we come over to visit."

Shinji started to shave.

It was about time those two got their own house' he thought to himself, That apartment was simply too small, especially considering it had effectively become the summer holiday home of three of the former pilots. Shinji looked forward to his time back in Tokyo 3. He and Mana had only been in America studying for two years, and even though he really enjoyed it here, somehow Tokyo 3 would always be home. And anyway, except for Asuka and Kensuke all his old friends were there.

Shinji remembered back to the first departure. How everyone had come to see him, Mana and Asuka off, it had been great. Asuka was a little miffed that she was not the only one studying abroad, and she was rather cool to her fellow travellers while saying general goodbyes to the friends that had come to see them off. But when she had split from Mana and Shinji to go to her separate plane she hugged Shinji farewell in her now usual pleasant manner. During this hug Shinji thought he might have actually seen a tear in her eye, which would have only been the second time he ever saw her cry. Before he could confirm however, she had quickly given him a peck on the cheek, a punch in the arm and turned to dash to her aircraft, waving to them as she turned the corner.

Back in the present, Shinji had not noticed Mana get out of the shower, he was still shaving absent mindedly.

"Hey you, wake up" she said cheerfully. Bumping Shinji out of the way playfully with her hip and grabbed her toothbrush.

"If Misato hasn't got her stuff together we can always stay with our father and Dr Ritsuko." she said lightly, sticking the toothbrush in her mouth. Shinji gave her a thoughtful look, he had finished shaving, so got ready to enter the shower.

"Ha ha… could you imagine" he said amused. "I think I'll leave our time alone for when we're on the golf course."

Cheerfully, he entered the shower. It had only been recently that Doctor Akagi had moved in with Gendo, that too was about time. Smiling, Shinji remembered back to when his father had wanted to explain the situation between the two of them to him, during last summer break. It was the only time Shinji ever saw his father lost for words, it was strange to see that on some-matters even his father was human. Shinji had taken the initiative, saying to Gendo that he had known about the two of them for some time, and he new Yui, like himself, wished them only happiness. Gendo relaxed, saying he should have known a son of his would have figured it out by now.

The two of them actually got on quite well now, Shinji and Gendo, even catching up over the phone about every two months or so, though the conversations were generally short and to the point. Still though, in summer the two would play golf and go fishing together, now that Gendo had the time he enjoyed relaxing past-times, the two would usually spend the day in relative silence, but somehow they both preferred it that way.

Shinji got out of the shower, brushing his teeth now that Mana had left the bathroom.

Outside Mana got dressed. Their apartment was relatively small, but comfortable, and right next to the university. It had seemed like such a big thing to Shinji at the time, studying abroad, but really it had never been a risk. Mana's family had lived in America before they were taken into custody, and had returned to their former lives after being released. Mana's parents actually only lived in the next county. Not to close but also not to far away, as far as Shinji was concerned

Asuka had also left Japan, returning to Germany to pursue postgraduate studies. She was excelling, as was to be expected, and breaking many a poor German boy's heart, or so she continuously bragged. Shinji wasn't so sure about that, and last summer he had managed to get a name out of her, Claus. Shinji was unable to get anything else out of her, but he was sure she would divulge the information in her own time.

A year after they had left, Kensuka had also left for China, to pursue a journalism degree. Shinji kept up with him and Toji over the Internet, Kensuke sending all kind of strange photos from his latest journalistic projects. Toji himself had remained in Tokyo, he and Hikari had moved in together, surprise, surprise. Toji himself was undertaking a Bio-mechanics degree at Tokyo university, while at the same time working part time at NERV under the direction of Dr Ritsuko. Hikari had continued in her love for cooking, and was currently undertaking an apprenticeship at a well known Tokyo 3 restaurant. Shinji occasionally getting some interesting recipes off her. Shinji looked forward to seeing the two again soon.

Getting dressed he joined Mana in the kitchen table, she had prepared a quick breakfast for them. Though Shinji did most of the cooking Mana did cook occasionally, and usually with good results. Soon the two were in the car, on their way to the Airport. While Mana drove, Shinji, in the passenger seat, listened to the music from the stereo and watched the city go by.

NERV had endured. After the final collapse of SEELE, NERV had gotten jurisdiction over all of the assets under the administration of the UN. Without a clear objective Gendo, Fuyuzuki and Ritsuko had proposed that the aims of NERV be turned to medical science, it had been a logical step, considering the expertise and resources NERV possessed in research and development of bio-mechanical systems and neural interfaces. The change had been approved, and Gendo, Ritsuko, Fuyuzuki, Misato and Kaji worked hard to restructure the organisation. In the last three years they had come far, becoming the leaders in almost all aspects of medical research. The reason why Toji had been drawn to the institute.

Arriving at the airport, Shinji and Mana made their way to the arrivals lounge, hand in hand. They didn't have to wait long. Soon appearing through the arrival gate was a young couple. They were dressed casually, the beautiful young lady in a summer dress, the young man in slacks and a shirt, top button undone to reveal the white T-shirt below. The two walked hand in hand, her blue hair and their red eyes received strange looks from some of the passers by. Seemingly oblivious, the two simply walked through the crowd, seeing Shinji and Mana, Kaworu and Rei smiled, releasing their hands to greet each other with hugs.

With only a few small bags as luggage (both Rei and Kaworu had remained minimalists) they were soon on their way. Catching up in the car the time past quickly and they soon found themselves at their destination, a small cafe along a country road. It was located off the main road and looked across a large lake to the mountains behind, it was quite peaceful at this time of day. Soon the four found themselves out on the balcony overlooking the lake. Being the only customers it didn't take long for their drinks to arrive.

Sipping his tea Shinji looked across the lake.

"So who does the cooking at 'your' place?" asked Mana. Kaworu, taking a sip of his soda, replied.

"Its depends on who has more time" he said pleasantly. "Though it appears that I have greater enjoyment in preparing food then Rei. She for her part seems to enjoy tending the plants more"

"How is that garden going?" Mana asked, turning to Rei.

"Garden?" said Rei.

"Well I don't think you can really call it a balcony any-more, considering how many plants you have growing there." Mana continued. Rei smiled.

"It is going very well, we almost have something in flower all year round." replied Rei.

"You really have the most beautiful selection of flowers growing, I can't wait to visit again when we're back in Tokyo 3" Mana said enthusiastically.

"Thank you" said Rei pleasantly. Shinji looked on happily. Mana gave him a little smile.

"Kaworu, I have a surprise for you" said Mana. Kaworu turned to face her.

"This place has more then just a beautiful view." she said.

"That's right" said Shinji. "This cafe has one of the most famous cheese cakes in all of America"

Kaworu listened tentatively.

"When Mana heard how much you enjoyed new food she remembered this cafe. It has one of the biggest and best selections in the world." Shinji said with a smile. Mana nodded, Kaworu smiled at the two.

"I am most interested" he said intrigued. Mana, getting up, grabbed Kaworu's hand.

"Come on, I'll show you the selection" she said happily. Kaworu raised out of his seat.

"We'll get a selection for these two" she added, nodding at Shinji and Rei. "Finally I have someone with 'taste' to help me select" she said teasingly, giving Shinji a wink. Kaworu turned to Rei, leaning over, he gave her a quick kiss, which she lent up to receive, smiling he said.

"I will ensure you will get something you enjoy"

Turning, he followed Mana into the cafe. Shinji watched them go, as did Rei, once they went inside she turned to face Shinji.

"So everything going well with Kaworu?" he asked with a smile.

"We have decided to live our lives as human as possible" she said, obviously referring to the unusual show of affection just then. "It is quite…. Enjoyable" she said, blushing slightly. Shinji's smile broadened.

"You two are good for each other, I'm really happy for you Rei" he said. Rei took a sip of her drink, a large chocolate milkshake.

"I was a little worried leaving you alone in Japan" continued Shinji happily, his smile fading as he remembered his regrets at the time.

"It was for the best" said Rei. "You wanted to be with Mana, and you needed a change, as did Asuka"

Shinji looked at her.

"And you had already done so much for me and Kaworu, it was time for you to look after your own happiness. Kaworu and I will always be grateful" she said, finishing with a smile. It was Shinji's turn to blush slightly.

"So how is Asuka doing really" Shinji asked, moving on. "I haven't visited her in Germany yet, what's her place really like?" he asked after a short pause.

"Its nice… big, but very messy" said Rei.

"That sounds like Asuka" said Shinji, chuckling.

"And did she say anything about a young man?" asked Shinji with a smirk.

"We actually met Claus" said Rei. "He joined us for a whole day, we even had dinner with him"

Shinji looked surprised.

"You met him! What's he like, she hasn't told me anything, his name is Claus right" stumbled Shinji, eager to find out details.

"He is a very nice young man, his Japanese is not very good, but it's difficult with a German accent"

"He speaks some Japanese… impressive" said Shinji, honestly impressed.

"She met him at university, they are taking the same Martial arts training" she said with a smile.

"He reminds me a lot of Mr Raji" said Rei finally. Shinji looked at her for a second, then leant back in his chair chuckling.

"Also Asuka told me to tell you that you and Kaworu are to get all your 'class related psychology discussions' out of the way here. She plans to bring Claus this summer, and if you two end up discussing philosophy all hours of the day, she's _going to kick both your asses_" said Rei.

"Asses?" said Shinji grinning.

"I am simply relaying a message" Rei replied, taking another sip of her drink.

"That, sure sounds like Asuka." said Shinji. "Don't worry, Kaworu and I have already promised to keep the discussions to a minimum"

"You needn't worry on my behalf" said Rei. "Mana and I still have to catch up, she wants to ask me all about my teaching rounds, and her engineering stories always make me laugh." she said pleasantly. Shinji, contented, stretched back in his chair.

"In exactly four weeks time, we will all be at Misato's and Kajis house... Asuka with a boyfriend, you Kaworu, Mana, Kensuka, Toji, Hikari, even my father and Ritsuko."

"I think even Fuyuzuki will show up this year" added Rei. Shinji nodded.

"If five years ago you would have said that one day we would be all sitting around a big dinner table catching up on each others new lives… enjoying ourselves" said Shinji reflectively "I would have said you were crazy"

Rei looked at him for a second, then looked out at the lake.

"The world has infinite possibilities, controlled by only one thing" said Rei, placing her glass down and also leaning back into her chair.

"Your choices" she said, closing her eyes.

Shinji closed his eyes as well, nodding in agreement.

Behind the two former pilots, the sliding door of the cafe opened slowly. A lovely aroma filled the air as Mana and Kaworu brought back their partners, 'their', chosen selection of cake.

**The End.**

Authors note:

Well that's it, it was meant to be quick but it kept filling out, I think it ended up quite well (well I hope it did!) This story represents the most ideal outcome I could see for the existing story, What can I say I'm a sucker for a happy ending! A lot of fun to write and I hope you all liked it, this will be my only long fan-fiction I think. My tribute to a deep and entertaining series, as screwball as elements of it was ! ;)

Thanks to all that have taken the time to read through, I hope it was enjoyable, and if so; why not leave a review? It only takes a second or two. A simple 'good job' would be greatly appreciated. Adding to favourites would also be great, as it allow others to enjoy it at a later date, now that I have finished updating it. Thanks again everyone!


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